5 Star Crash Rating

[mxfever]

Crash ratings is something that I've never really considered before until a few weeks ago.

We bought a new Dodge Charger in 2008 because it's one of the coolest looking 4 doors made. We didn't know at the time that it had a 5 start crash rating.

Well my wife was headed home with our 18 month old twins strapped in their car seats in the back seat, forward facing. A 17 year old ran a stop sign at a bad intersection. My wife had just touched the brakes before she t-boned him at 55 mph. My wife and kids were taken to the hospital by ambulance but to everyones suprise they were released with bruises 2.5 hours later.

The car sustained over $19000 in damages and was a total loss. However the passenger compartment stayed in tact, the windows didn't break and all the doors still opened.

We have since replaced the car with another Charger due to the performance in the accident. It's a newer model with side curtain air bags for more safety. Please keep crash ratings in mind when looking for a car. They may just save your life!

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

Wow great story with a happy ending!

 

[1fishbone]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

Many people don't even think about it!

Glad everyone is OK and you're buying American!

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

Good to hear the family are OK after such a violent accident. And BTW cute twins.

 

[Beefer]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

Great looking family you have there! Glad their all ok after such a mess.

The thing that amazed me about your post, was that all 4 doors still opened after the wreck! I've seen and had cars that you can't open the doors if you have a minor fender-bender.

 

[DC20]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

Glad your family is ok. I'm an insurance agent, I always look at the ratings.

 

[BF]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

Wow... fantastic that they're OK... scary stuff. How 'bout the 17 y.o.? If the hit was on the driver's door, it likely wouldn't be good.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

It's really doesn't matter anymore what brand of vehicle. They're all very safe. Good to see they perform in real life situations.

 

[jkust]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

Seems many cars get the government 5 star rating now days. A few years back I had a 1990's Chevy Corsica and I went head on at with a car going 55mph while simultainiously getting rear ended by a mini van. The head on car was driven by an illegal alien who didn't fair so well in his Mazda and the Minivan caused the accident. They have since completely reworked the intersection after several of these accidents. That's roughly about how the Corsica faired in the front except the door frames were bent maybe from getting crushed from the rear. It is a scary experience. Do you have a picture of the tboned car...they usually take them to the same tow yard. The air bag saved me from major injuries but back then some cars only had a drivers bag so was glad my wife wasn't with me. Im betting the airbag was a scary experience for your wife. Glad everyone is alright.

 

[BF]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

I'm sure been posted before... but shows how far cars have come safety-wise. I like old cars, but wouldn't want to crash in one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g

 

[j_martin]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

The 1959 Chevy was one of the thinnest and lightest ones made. Most of them rusted out in a few years.

 

[mxfever]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

I don?t have any pictures of the car that the 17 year old was driving. He was in a 1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and I can tell you it was messed up. There wasn?t a window left in it. In fact the exhaust system to the car laid 30 feet past where my wife?s car came to rest. The Police closed the road down because there was so much debris and oil in the road. The impact pushed the subframe of our car into the oil pan of the engine, spraying engine oil, transmission oil and coolant from the radiator all over the place. We don?t know how the kid turned out. The hospital wouldn?t tell us. He was covered in blood from the flying glass but he was sitting up in the grass when I got to the scene.

 

[642mx]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

Many people don't even think about it!

Glad everyone is OK and you're buying American!

Its actually Canadian. Chargers are made in Ontario.

 

[robert graham]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

Beautiful wife and kids, you're so fortunate. It could have been a real disaster! Continued Good Luck!

 

[642mx]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

I'm glad your family is okay. The car did its job well. I'm amazed that the glass didn't break!

The Charger is a big (by todays standards) car, but some of the ratings are not a perfect 5 star...

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives the Charger five stars on passenger, driver, and rear passenger crash test ratings and four stars in regard to side impact rating.

After some reading, i found this;

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gives the Charger an overall Good score in frontal crash tests. In side impacts Charger models equipped with optional side airbags are given a Marginal score overall, and models without side airbags are given the lowest overall Poor score

I'm glad you went with side curtain bags in your newer Charger.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

I need to show this thread to my wife. She has a Charger and we both really like it. Hopefully, we wont have to test that 5 star rating. Glad to see it performed as well as it did and your family was alright.....

Here's hers:

 

[mxfever]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

Beautiful wife and kids, you're so fortunate. It could have been a real disaster! Continued Good Luck!

Thank you! In fact 2 miles down the same road a similar situation happened at another intersection. Another driver ran a different stopsign, the guy that t-boned him was in a truck and passed away due to his injuries. For my wife and kids to be home just hours later, we're VERY fortunate!

 

[DC20]

Re: 5 Star Crash Rating

Here you go:
http://www.iihs.org/externaldata/srdata/docs/sr4204.pdf

Insurance companies also have a rating for vehicles.