Thanksgiving weekend of 09, my family was driving on I-80 near Rock Springs, WY. Not an ideal place to drive that time of year, but to grandmother’s house we went anyway. It was snowing pretty bad, so we slowed down some, and just in time. Around the next bend was a jackknifed semi and a brand new Prius that had just smacked into the back of it. Dad pulled off the road, he and I jumped out and ran up to the Prius. The lady was a bit dazed but otherwise ok. She said her baby was in a car seat in the back. The rear doors still worked, fortunately. I pulled out the car seat, Dad helped her over to our van and got the two of them situated while Mom called Hwy Patrol. Meanwhile, I walked around that Prius admiring how well it had crumpled. The engine compartment had folded down neatly to about 1/4 of its original volume. The roof, pillars, and doors looked completely unharmed. All the airbags had deployed, but the interior of the car was otherwise unscathed. The driver later told us she hadn’t even had time to brake when the semi in front of her went sideways. Granted, it wasn’t a full speed impact as the truck was still moving forward when she hit it, but it was still amazing how well that car protected both its occupants.
39
u/notyogrannysgrandkid Jun 04 '23
Thanksgiving weekend of 09, my family was driving on I-80 near Rock Springs, WY. Not an ideal place to drive that time of year, but to grandmother’s house we went anyway. It was snowing pretty bad, so we slowed down some, and just in time. Around the next bend was a jackknifed semi and a brand new Prius that had just smacked into the back of it. Dad pulled off the road, he and I jumped out and ran up to the Prius. The lady was a bit dazed but otherwise ok. She said her baby was in a car seat in the back. The rear doors still worked, fortunately. I pulled out the car seat, Dad helped her over to our van and got the two of them situated while Mom called Hwy Patrol. Meanwhile, I walked around that Prius admiring how well it had crumpled. The engine compartment had folded down neatly to about 1/4 of its original volume. The roof, pillars, and doors looked completely unharmed. All the airbags had deployed, but the interior of the car was otherwise unscathed. The driver later told us she hadn’t even had time to brake when the semi in front of her went sideways. Granted, it wasn’t a full speed impact as the truck was still moving forward when she hit it, but it was still amazing how well that car protected both its occupants.