Davediego

glad you had no "serious" injuries, but you have to realize the safety measures in you car may have been functioning just as they were "intended" to. I dont think they design the car to sustain a 70mph collision from the rear, and I dont think front airbags will deploy in most rear end collisions. perhaps they should have deployed when you hit the car in front of you, but at that point they likely could have done more harm than good. also the seat belt breakign away could very well be part of its design. ive seen other systems where the belt will break away when sustaining a certain amount of force. its either it breaks away or stays and crushes your ribs and internal organs. by all means contact acura and find out how the car should have performed in your situation, but i wouldnt be too suprised if it behaved exactly as it should. well designed crumple zones saved your life.

as for that sickening feeling of seeing your car wrecked, i know exactly what you mean. i had some idiot run a stop and turn in front of me when i didnt have one, and the resulting crash totalled my first car. it was very unpleasant and saddening to look at right after it happened.

good luck finding a new ride

NJtsx

ill also say im sorry to hear the news and i hope you are doing ok. Accidents can be mind altering. But glad to hear everything is ok. cars can be replaced. hang in their bro

kevin

Whatchamacallit

Incredible story. Most people only hear about stuff like this. Sorry you had to experience it. Glad to hear that you are okie.

With all the luxury features included in the TSX (as well as many other cars for that matter), people forget about the possible dangers of driving or even using simple safety features like the seat belt. Glad to hear that you had your seat belt on. It definitely did save your life.

Sorry, hate to make you feel like a test dummy but what types of injuries (if you don't mind me asking) did you sustain (whiplash, buckled knee, cuts and bruises, etc)?

Corbon91

DAMN!!!! I'm glad that you're ok though!!! If there is a defect in the seatbelts, I'd be more than welcome to take my TSX back to the dealer to get it upgraded.

21_in_az

i am actually lucky the airbags did not deploy, if they had, i would have a broken nose, and 2 broken arms from flying at the windsheild, and sorta into it.

as far as the belt goes, i ahve never heard of a belt that is meant to break, after you make a valid point. i can understand the idea, saving organs and all. i did have a HUGE bruise on my chest for about 3 weeks, only lately has it gona away.

i had a minor cut on my forhead (from the windsheild), massive whiplash, mid and upper back pain, headaches, and my left knee was/is inflamed from hitting the dash......although i cant remember it hitting anything, all i know is before the wreck it did not hurt, not it does and it is inflamed.

i have to go to the kiropracter and doctor still, and i have to contact acura about all of this.

zircon

I agree with one of the earlier posters. I think the car performed wonderfully, despite the bumps and bruises. Was the rear passenger compartment compressed? I saw a Euro test of the Euro Accord, and it performed quite well, but not excellent - in preventing intrusion into the passenger compartment in a frontal collision test. Perhaps had your belt not fractured after taking most of your load, you would have been held so tightly in place that you could rupture your aorta or other major blood vessel.

I saw a pic of a late-model Honda Civic SIR that t-boned a Crown Vic (cop car) going >100mph. The civic was utterly destroyed back to the passenger compartment, but not in it. The (idiot) driver walker away, the unfortunate police officer did not. That such a small car as a Civic (or TSX) could perform so well in high speed collisions is a testament to good engineering.

Hope the muscle aches are gone. Subtle injuries can pop up well asfter an accident.

Get a new car - that thing sounds like toast.

Davediego

so who takes the liability in all of this? does your insurance company have to eat the cost?

James

glad youre ok man.

21_in_az

as far as i know, the owner of the stolen car that hit me, thier insurance company will pay for it....but i dont know yet.

that sucks about the civic sir, coming from a civic si, i would hate to be in a wreck in that car, way to small!

the tsx is wonderfully built, and safe......but, the seat belt thing/airbag thing still worrys me, and im not sure if an acura representitive telling me "THAT IS WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN" will make me feel better! if they have an engenering defect, ACURA MUST RECALL THE CAR, and fix the mistake!

but, only time will tell.....unfortunatly.

HuKaShI

Glad to hear that you are OK....

Reading your story reminds me of a similar situation where I got out of without a scratch.

The scene was pretty much the same as yours but I was the first car with about 5 cars behind me. We were all stopped at a red light. I had my moon roof open on my '98 accord. My friend was in the car also. I was at the red when we suddenly hear tires screeching. Since the sound came through the moon roof, we at first couldn't make out which direction it was coming from. So I started looking out in front of me then to the sides and then my rear view mirror. I hear a giant crash and see the headlights behind me jump. I then see the headlights of the third car jump. I instantly hit the gas while looking to my left to see if there was any traffic headed for me. None there luckily and as I pulled ahead I see the civic behind me jump and creep forward. I avoided the last bump. Apparently a "crazy" had been speeding and couldn't stop his car in time. the 5 cars ahead of him had taken the impact.

I guess my dads constant reminder of defensive driving and always being alert and little bit of luck helped me out. My friend almost sh*t his pants.

7or8

Quick thinking there.

21_in_az

ya, really quick thinking man!

always help to have a lil' luck! i wish i could have saved my car like that!

you sold the 98 for your tsx? was it a v6 model?

larchmont

21 -- what a story! Glad you're OK, sounds almost miraculous. I wonder too about the seat belt and air bags, big-time, but also think that car did a good job protecting you. In terms of what this says about the TSX, it's a mixed message, but since the main bottom line is how you are, the car did pretty well. Except maybe you could have come out of it a bit better. Plus the "might-have-beens" are scarier because of the belt and bags not doing their job.

Thanks for telling the story. And I join the many others who say, please do stay around.

HuKaShI -- What good fortune. Sometimes we are able to make our own good luck, and that's what you did. Whenever possible, I try to be conscious of things like that happening behind me (but without making myself crazy over it) -- leave some room ahead of me, and sort of listen and look a bit. I've never had a situation where I actually had to make use of it, though. And I don't think I've ever heard of someone actually dodging the bullet quite like you did. Great job.

21_in_az

Larch.......bout time! i was wondering you had been!

thanks man, and ya, the car took most of the hit for me...thank god! i'm just glad i didnt completly go through the windsheild! i dont think i would be sitting here, typing right now if i had!

i will defanatly stick around, even if the car is done. i love/loved my car, and tsx's in general. i cant wait untill people start moding some hp and tq!

jlukja

Just curious if you have an AT or MT. When I had the MT and stopped at a light it would always be in neutral. I never waited with it in gear and the clutch in (too tiring on the left foot). With an AT you just hit the gas and go. If you managed this with an MT I am doubly impressed but being alert and thinking quick got you out of a mess nevertheless.

Stokeless_TSX

man im sorry bout the car...but imvery happy you are alive and well. Like others have stated cars can be replaced people cant. If you find the dude that hit ya kick his ass or kill him he deserves it!!!

binabink

wow....i mean wow. i'm speechless. wow. but yeah....glad you're still here with us.

teombe

21-

I am truly sorry to hear that. I can sorta feel your pain.

I was rear ended at a stop light by an asshole in a Jeep Liberty last November... and Drove the f*cker off! They must've been going 30Mph or so, as they gave my rear end a pretty good whack. Fortunately, I had two things working in my favor... 1) It was raining heavily that day, so it didn't take much force to send my car skidding into the next lane - thus lessening the impact, and 2) there was nobody in the next lane. All told, the damages hit $9700, so my insurance company wouldn't total it (all rear-end damage, mostly cosmetic). Two months later, the car looks/drives excellent, but it will never be the same to me. :'(

I'm sure they'll total your car, as the cost of repairs will probably be as high as the actual cash value of the car - so don't worry about that. Just keep on 'em. That's why you pay them.

After hearing your story, I feel like the safety systems in the car worked exactly the way they were supposed to. instead of using the typical single accelerometer with mechanical backup airbag system, the TSX uses a pair of redundant accelerometers, and logic to determine the severity of a crash in order to coordinate all those airbags. This is rarely the cause of a safety system flaw, as it is entirely electronic and heavily tested. Typically, in a rear-end crash, your airbags will not do much good anyway. When you hit the woman in front of you, the deceleration you encounterd from that impact was probably well below threshold.

I also believe that your seat belt was designed to break at a certain tension as well. It held you in place throughout the bulk of the impact, but gave way before it did any serious organ damage.

I have had a relative decapitated (beheaded) by a seat belt on a 2002 Chevy Cavalier, so I completely understand and appreciate the logic and thought put into the design of this car.


BTW, the airbags in a TSX will work at speeds below 30MPH. Newer systems are designed to provide protection if your car is hit head on while at a standstill. Accelerometers measure both acceleration and deceleration.

HuKaShI

I still have my 98. i am waiting till I have enough money which is probably in June to get either the TSX or the TL. I'm probably leaning towards the TSX.

Also, Its a AT. I do alot of stop and go. Yeah, I was also lucky that I had the AT. This also shows that you shouldn't drive when tired. You won't be alert enough to even attempt an escape like I did.

21_in_az

teombe.....

OH MY GOD! i am sorry to hear about your relative. that wasnt even a big story, but omg.....wow, i am sorry.

dom

According to sunnyboy the airbags worked as they were designed to.

I am very interested to find out if this in fact is correct, as we should all be.

TinkySD

It make some sense. Obviously in a rear end collision you are throw back into the seat/headrest behind you. It's only if you lurch forward and run into something that you get forward movement as your car suddenly decelerations form the impact in front of you. Seems to me this was a pretty serious bang though and im surprised they didn't fire when he was suddenly sped up to probably 50mph then back down to 0 in a heartbeat.

larchmont

Yeah, I just don't really know exactly what the air bags are supposed to do, and I guess most of us don't. I would have thought they'd go off in ANY severe impact. In this case, it seems that the air bags would have prevented 21 from hitting the windshield. But..... maybe the issue is that the seatbelt was supposed to do that, except that it broke.

About teombe's relative -- yes, what can we say. Gruesome, tragic. Maybe the less said about it, the better. Except I wonder about the air bags in that situation too.


Different question: When a new car is "totalled," don't you still get screwed, because you just get the "replacement value," which won't be enough to get the same new car or even really any equivalent car?

21_in_az

ya, im not sure how fast i was going into the lady in front of me........but, i am pretty sure her car had to be towed also.


also, a quick note......when i went to the police imound lot, about 3am on a sat. morning the week after all of this happened, i saw the car that hit me. i know it was stolen, but i still got a good kick in before i had to leave.

and, as far as the guy that hit me goes....i have his hole already dug in the dessert. forgive me for not being able to tell where though.

even if i dont catch him, or the cops dont, someday he will get his, maybe not on earth, but somehow, someway he will pay.

larchmont

http://www.brettbayne.com/literature/maybehesdead.html

Stokeless_TSX

dude when the insurance pays off the car...if the car is worth more than pay off which i doubt but hey never know...do this. Keep the car as totaled it might cost you 1k BUT if the engine hase good parts in it such as the block doesnt have any whole u can sell it for a good chunk to a guy with and RSX that wants to do the K24 swap. Or you can keep the head if its not screwed do some major work on it get you another TSX and now u have a race ready head. its all up to u man. but i kept the engine out of my GSR fully built turbo and im selloing it in about 2 weeks for 3g's.

21_in_az

ya, i did that with my si. sold the head to my buddy. he bought a crv motor, and put my b16 head on it. -Frankenstein.

now he has a custom t3/t4 turbo, and is about to install nitrous.
its suicide fast! haha

but, i think the engine is shot, it was smoking when i left, and i hear it got worse from there. firefighters were involved. im not sure if the oil pan broke, and the interals fried....or what. im not that great with engines, but i know that white smoke coming out of the hood isent good.

Jab31169

Just a PS: Have you thought about talking with the police department about a settlement of some sort? The fact that there was a high speed chase involved means the police department was responsible for the wreck. You should talk with your insurance company and the other person who was involved in the wreck. Dont get me wrong...im not a lawsuit happy person but I am do think that police officers should not pursue anyone who has done anything less than kill someone. By chasing someone it just increases the danger to bystandards.

Sucks about the wreck though man....glad to hear your OK

21_in_az

i have thought about it, and i think i will talk to my familly's lawyer about it.

he is also going to look into the airbag thing, and seatbelt stuff also. i have to wait untill i know whats going to happen to my car though. once i "offically" talk to a lawyer, i can not talk to my insurance company. everything has to go through my lawyer, and i dont want to pay him for finding out the situation on my car, or getting the amount of my payoff.......

good idea though, thanks.

dom

We have something called a "limited waiver of depreciation" here in Canada that most people take out on new cars. Its actually more common for the insurer to include it in a quote on any new car. Basically, if the car if stolen or totalled within the first two years you will get back exactly what you paid for the car.

I used it when I wrecked my Integra after owning it for a year and a half. Faxed the insuarnce company the bill of sale and any bills of extras like alarm etc and they reimbursed everything.

21_in_az

i hope i will get every penny.......


i checked my totall owed, and i owe about 17k. if they assume the car is worth 30k, wich they wont, i expect it to be worth about 25k, i should get a decent check.

however, i will still lose money.....somehow, someway i will.



people that hit and run...... , but thanks for the new car!

Jab31169

as far as your airbags they are not supposed to go off from a rear collision. Your seatbelt snapping is pursuable though. I would DEFANTLY see about the police though.

osubuckeye98

I think what teombe says may be true if you are hit head on at standstill, because at that point your body is resisting movement while the vehicle is moving backwards, therefore you move forward as if you were involved in a forward collision. However 21_in_az indicated he was about a car's length from the person in front and with the rear end of his TSX taking the blunt of energy from the hitt, it is unlikely the car accerlated over 30mph before impacting the car in front. Remember that the camaro had to overcome a 45mph impact absorption and then move a 3300 lb hunk of metal forward and keep moving forward itself. If he was going about 70mph, at least half of the energy was absorbed when he hit the rear, and the remaining energy was diminished as he pushed the car forward (accerlation).

Regardless, glad that 21_in_az is okay and back online!

jcg878

Is that the same thing as 'gap insurance' here in the states? Car salesman often try to sell it to you.

dom

We talked about this before and if I remember correctly its not the same thing. Gap insurance has to do with leases and not losing value when it comes time to bring the car back, I think. Our Limited Waiver of Depreciation is something we buy from our car insurance company not the dealer, sort of like getting collision.

I'm sure the US would have something similar?

21_in_az

gap insurance is for people that total there car. when the insurance company goes to pay them off, the car is worth less than what the person owes. the insurance compnay then covers it for their clinent. the poor guy who had his vehicle totaled will get no money though.


we do have something like that here in teh states, i forgot what it is called though. the next time i talk with my insuance company i will ask.

LeMasseHammer

Glad you're OK 21. Thanks for sharing.

I did a search for airbags not deploying, and quickly came across this interesting page concerning Daimler Chrysler airbag problems (not that I necessarily think Acura would behave this way)...

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/autom...ler_airbag.htm

jcg878

I think we are talking about the same thing - gap insurance makes up for the difference in what your car is worth and what you owe. I believe that it's sold by both dealers and insurance companies (those that issue auto insurance, that is). I'm sure it doesn't only apply to leases.

21, I guess you don't have such a policy?? That would take care of your issue if you have it and forgot about it or something. I guess that's a stupid question.

21_in_az

thanks for posting that link, it kinda makes me wonder though.....
you dont see any post for how people praiseing airbags. im sure there are some though.

also, even though i do have gap insurance, i will not need it. my car is/was 30k, i owe about 17k. i should walk away with about 10k in cash or so.......*crosses fingers*

NoHandle

Hopefully this will make you feel a little better about how your TSX took the crash:

20 years ago when I lived in Scottsdale, my friend was sitting in the left turn lane westbound on Indian School Road at McClintock on his motorcycle when an El Camino doing 90 mph rearended a big ass 1970's Cadillac next to him on his right. Fortunately for him, everything went forward and to the right and he was untouched. The old women in the Cadillac however was killed on impact. Her Cadillac rammed into the car in front of her and sent it flying to the right into (if I recall) a tree and was also killed.

This guy didn't even rob or kill anybody before that. He was just drunk.