Another Saab Safety story
I saw this story in my news feeds just before Christmas, but didn’t think too much more of it. A guy in a Honda is said to have had a seizure. He crashed into a Saab and then his car went into the Charles River and he had to be fished out of the freezing water by some bystanders.
I was reminded of this story again today as I received an email from Peter L, and the Saab involved in the crash (a 9-5 as it turns out) belonged to the mother of a friend of his.
The Honda rear-ended the Saab pretty badly, as you can see in the photo. The Saab had a dog in the back (looks like a cocker spaniel!) and of course, the driver in the front. Miraculously neither of them suffered any major injury at all.
No matter how well your car’s designed and built there will be circumstances that it can’t withstand. At least with a Saab in the garage you’ve raised the bar as to how bad those circumstance have to be.
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Oops! I neglected to link up the video. Thanks Edu.
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http://cbs4boston.com/topstories/local_story_355132108.html
take a look at the video…..
greetings
“The Honda rear-ended the Saab pretty badly…”
Understatement of the year… What was he doing? 120 MPH?
That Honda must have been traveling at a very high velocity indeed - or that Saab just caved-in like a tin can. It’s good that both driver and dog were able to walk away - but one wonders what would’ve happen to people sitting in the backseat.
For me another reason to reduce the number of big SUVs from the roads…
Hondas (except the very new ones) are soft, they have huge windscreen apetures, with low fronts and firewalls -so they are known for collapsing bulkheads, crushed footwheels, pedal intrusion and ‘A’ pillars that go vertical and take the steering wheel, dashboard upwards; likewise the airbags which are rendered useless.
Go study any 1980s and 1990s Honda crash and you will see the classic tell-tales listed above- across the entire range.Any auto engineer with a safety background will confirm such things.
So if a Honda did this, it must have been (a)newish and safer, (b) an SUV model (c) seriously shifting.
Note how the Saabs rear floor is intact- a classic case of overiding - so typical of the SUV. There has been no fire - thanks to Saab safety design.
If this had been one of the many USA and Japanese still (incredibly)made cars with a fuel tank under the rear floor- and not over the rear axle, a big fire might have ensued.
So, Saab safety works -note how the roof and sills ahve not spilt at their seams.
95s have soft extremities and tough centres - they are supposed to fold up - to a certain point. And yes Honda have just built a Saab/Volvo style safety centre - decades after the Swedes:not a moment to soon say some.