Someone stepping in front of me while passing them is one of my biggest fears on multilane roads.
Glad they got out alive and unharmed.

 

Who has concrete evidence that an Merc or Volvo is worse off then an S2000?

Mercedes & Volvo literally defined safety innovations in the late 70s early 80s. Mercedes came out with the Airbags, and Volvo were the ones that developed crush zones (that's why they were so boxy).

There is no way an S2000 would be safer then a Mercedes or a Volvo. Especially with a cloth top.

I'm glad those guys came out unhurt - but those flips disintegrated the energy of the impact. If it wasn't for those flips, I'm not sure how "Ok" they would've been. However, the same applies to any Merc/Volvo/Anycar. It's much harder to survive a direct impact w/o some way of getting rid of/absorbing that inertia.

 

I don't think it has anything to do with the car, rather the nature of the accident.

I've now had two friends that died horrible deaths in S2000 crashes

 

actually, the S2000 does very well compared to all cars. it is probably safer than even most sedans and many other such cars on the road. not just compared to light sports cars.

 

I have been hoping that this would be a different winter than last. I remember many posts about wrecked S's last year. I have been happy that there have not been stories yet, until today. Hopefully this is a freak accident and not a sign of things to come. Everyone stay safe, drive safe. Yes our car is a beast for such a small car (I too have unfortunately proved it to myself), but lets not test it out!!!!!

 

[QUOTE=PilotSi,Jan 16 2006, 08:31 AM] Who has concrete evidence that an Merc or Volvo is worse off then an S2000?

 

Like the second diagram. It was paralleling the guardrail around a 45* angle towards the guardrail, until snap oversteer caught on, then it headed in directly at 45*. The driver made a good snap decision, and whipped it all the way around at the last second (to avoid a direct head on collision with the rail). The driver's side head light took the initial hit, then the rear end SLAMMED into the guardrail. The entire rear end of the car (body panels, lights, wheels, etc.) had completely disintegrated down to the frame rails. I do not recall seeing a rear differential, either. Both half shafts were simply ripped from it, and the right rear wheel also separated from the control arm (just sitting under vehicle).

Nasty accident, but like I said, both seemed aware of what just happened, and there were no apparent injuries at all.

With regard to the Honda vs. Merc/Volvo, the thing that SAVED this accident was that when the S2000 hit the guard rail, the low center of gravity caused it to spin instead of flip. I have seen an S500 hit almost exactly like this, but when it rotated 90* to its direction of travel, the dampers compressed and the car just flipped like 5-6 times, instead of rotating in a 360.

If these individuals were in any sort of SUV, they would have jumped the guardrail and would have flipped into the woods at 95. Neither would have likely survived. Like I said, the interior was in PRISTINE condition. The only way you would know the accident occured would be the deployed air bags. The rear end was F*cked up, and the frame was definitely pretty bent (drivers door would not open at all).

They were driving pretty fast, but well within the limits of the car given the road and weather conditions (as well as traffic). The only car for several hundred meters was the SUV that hit them. I think the SUV just did not look. The S2000 driver did an amazing job of avoiding a multi-car accident (albeit screwing his ride in the process).

No, the SUV did not hang around. There was not contact with the SUV, as the S2000 driver avoided it very well (had contact ocurred, 3-4 more cars would have been involved....us being one of them). I would not call it a hit and run, but the illegal lane change DEFINITELY caused this accident. Had the driver been going 70 instead of 95, the exact same thing would have happened (the rear end tends to step out on our cars at speed with sudden directional changes....aka-oversteer).

If anyone knows who the driver was (I did not think to get his info), please have him contact me for a statement / affadavit of what occured.

Thanks

John

 

I'll agree with you here - but to say that Mercedes & Volvo are not as safe as an S2000 seems like it is based strictly on hearsay.

More often then not, the survival rate of the passanger is based on 2 variables -- the type of crash & the ability of the chassis to absorb & displace energy. No doubt that Honda did a lot of work with crash testing on the S2000.

But some of the claims that an S2k will survive a type of wreck while another vehicle would not, even tho they seem like the same type of accident, is based on what we say vs a scientific analysts.

For example, you quoted taht S2ks have fallen off cliffs at high speeds and their occupants survived. But just this past year, a Peugeot WRC car rolled over a cliff and killed its co-driver, Micheal "Beef" Park. Same type of accident, however...it's just one of those things.

 

you're right, we can only speculate.

 

[QUOTE=jwa4378,Jan 15 2006, 05:48 PM] I just wanted to share this experience.....

I was driving back from Sarasota to Tallahassee FL this afternoon.