RX8 Crash n Burn
#1
RX8 Crash n Burn
Totaled my RX8 earlier today =(
I'm concerned though cause my air bags did not deploy on impact nor after I came to a final stop.
First lemme describe exactly what happened.
I was cruising down the interstate, doing 65. Roads were wet, and it was raining lightly. The person on my left side had slammed on the brakes worried about hitting a water puddle too fast, well they ended up hydroplaning and their front right fender smashed into the side of my car, from what I can see it was just behind the wheel on the front left fender.
I lost control of the car from the force of impact, and went through two lanes, then flying off the interestate, going airborne for a few seconds before hitting the ground again. The impact caused my front bumper to come right off, and I then swung around to my left, and flew across the access road and ended up smacking into the side of a chain fence causing more major damage.
To me it appears the car is now totaled, both bumpers were ripped off, and the sides were heavily torn up, and im sure it snapped the axle along with more damage to the roof of the car.
Amazingly I got out of the car with no scratches, and there was nobody with me at the time. However, if there was there could of been a good chance they would have gotten seriously injured from the impact. Im guessing, that I was still doing about 20-25mph when I hit the fence. My question is were the air bags suppose to be deploy? I would certainly hope so..
I'm concerned though cause my air bags did not deploy on impact nor after I came to a final stop.
First lemme describe exactly what happened.
I was cruising down the interstate, doing 65. Roads were wet, and it was raining lightly. The person on my left side had slammed on the brakes worried about hitting a water puddle too fast, well they ended up hydroplaning and their front right fender smashed into the side of my car, from what I can see it was just behind the wheel on the front left fender.
I lost control of the car from the force of impact, and went through two lanes, then flying off the interestate, going airborne for a few seconds before hitting the ground again. The impact caused my front bumper to come right off, and I then swung around to my left, and flew across the access road and ended up smacking into the side of a chain fence causing more major damage.
To me it appears the car is now totaled, both bumpers were ripped off, and the sides were heavily torn up, and im sure it snapped the axle along with more damage to the roof of the car.
Amazingly I got out of the car with no scratches, and there was nobody with me at the time. However, if there was there could of been a good chance they would have gotten seriously injured from the impact. Im guessing, that I was still doing about 20-25mph when I hit the fence. My question is were the air bags suppose to be deploy? I would certainly hope so..
#2
Air bags usually only deploy when the impact is perpendicular or straight on. Angled impacts might now always set off the air bags.
Sucks, eh? At least you're okay though! Sorry to hear about the 8. Painful to read your story...
Sucks, eh? At least you're okay though! Sorry to hear about the 8. Painful to read your story...
#5
T-29 years and counting
iTrader: (3)
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,062
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From: North Fontana, CA.
damn sorry i drive slow and far away from other cars in the rain. i have seen accidents like that happen in front of me before. and with all the crazy californias who cant drive in the rain you have to watch out.
#6
Very glad you're OK. I'm also happy to hear you're OK without the air bags going off.
Air bags are part of a system. Early bags, which just went off with no intelligence, sometimes caused more injury or even killed people. (Look up "Out of position occupant" some time.) FWIW, wearing your seat belt provides more protection than anything else. Airbags are supplemental (even denoted "SRS") and deploy in bigger crashes.
The air bags in the 8 are pretty sophisticated, going off when needed and only with the strength needed. The seat position is even taken into account for the inflation pressure in frontal impacts. Also passenger weight. Nobody in the passenger seat meant the passenger side bags would not deploy at all.
Results count - you were uninjured. The car did what it was supposed to do.
As far as fixing it goes, you get to pick the shop. If it's repairable, find one that will fix it like it was before.
Ken
Air bags are part of a system. Early bags, which just went off with no intelligence, sometimes caused more injury or even killed people. (Look up "Out of position occupant" some time.) FWIW, wearing your seat belt provides more protection than anything else. Airbags are supplemental (even denoted "SRS") and deploy in bigger crashes.
The air bags in the 8 are pretty sophisticated, going off when needed and only with the strength needed. The seat position is even taken into account for the inflation pressure in frontal impacts. Also passenger weight. Nobody in the passenger seat meant the passenger side bags would not deploy at all.
Results count - you were uninjured. The car did what it was supposed to do.
As far as fixing it goes, you get to pick the shop. If it's repairable, find one that will fix it like it was before.
Ken
#7
Well the other driver didn't have a chance to drive off, soon as they hit my car they ran into the wall. Nobody was hurt though.
Everyone was in shock when I jumped out of the car not limping lol
And yea, usually im cautious when driving, specially in the rain.. This time I wasn't watching though, and this is what happens
Everyone was in shock when I jumped out of the car not limping lol
And yea, usually im cautious when driving, specially in the rain.. This time I wasn't watching though, and this is what happens
#9
It happened outside of plugerville goin N I-35
I was really curious to know about the Airbags, from the looks on the side, and the force of the impact I would assume that if there was a passenger they would have been injured and was by all means curious if this is the way the airbag system was designed.
I was really curious to know about the Airbags, from the looks on the side, and the force of the impact I would assume that if there was a passenger they would have been injured and was by all means curious if this is the way the airbag system was designed.
#10
Originally Posted by TexasRX8_84
It happened outside of plugerville goin N I-35
I was really curious to know about the Airbags, from the looks on the side, and the force of the impact I would assume that if there was a passenger they would have been injured and was by all means curious if this is the way the airbag system was designed.
I was really curious to know about the Airbags, from the looks on the side, and the force of the impact I would assume that if there was a passenger they would have been injured and was by all means curious if this is the way the airbag system was designed.
if it is true, the car is not near totaled... got pics???
beers
#16
Originally Posted by swoope
where did this happen? xfire.
and how are you so composed to write here after finding the site for the first time?
btw. i know where the rain was in tx today. xfire.
beers
and how are you so composed to write here after finding the site for the first time?
btw. i know where the rain was in tx today. xfire.
beers
AAAAAHHH!! the xfire is like...the rx8club fnord or something! XD
xfire
#17
Originally Posted by TeamRX8
where's the burn part?
beers
#18
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally Posted by TexasRX8_84
Totaled my RX8 earlier today =(
Originally Posted by TexasRX8_84
I'm concerned though cause my air bags did not deploy on impact nor after I came to a final stop.
Originally Posted by TexasRX8_84
well they ended up hydroplaning and their front right fender smashed into the side of my car, from what I can see it was just behind the wheel on the front left fender.
Originally Posted by TexasRX8_84
I lost control of the car from the force of impact, and went through two lanes, then flying off the interestate, going airborne for a few seconds before hitting the ground again.
Originally Posted by TexasRX8_84
The impact caused my front bumper to come right off, and I then swung around to my left, and flew across the access road and ended up smacking into the side of a chain fence causing more major damage.
Originally Posted by TexasRX8_84
To me it appears the car is now totaled, both bumpers were ripped off, and the sides were heavily torn up, and im sure it snapped the axle along with more damage to the roof of the car.
Originally Posted by TexasRX8_84
Amazingly I got out of the car with no scratches,
Originally Posted by TexasRX8_84
and there was nobody with me at the time. However, if there was there could of been a good chance they would have gotten seriously injured from the impact. Im guessing, that I was still doing about 20-25mph when I hit the fence.
Originally Posted by TexasRX8_84
My question is were the air bags suppose to be deploy? I would certainly hope so..
One other note on airbags. My car has had the airbag light on for a while and my dealer is replacing an electrical harness to fix the problem (he had to order it). He told me the airbag system would not allow any airbags to fire under any circumstances if that dashboard airbag light was on indicating any fault at all with the system.
Did you have the airbag light on prior to your crash?
Originally Posted by i_luv_my_rx8
Air bags usually only deploy when the impact is perpendicular or straight on. Angled impacts might now always set off the air bags.
Originally Posted by ken-x8
Air bags are part of a system. Early bags, which just went off with no intelligence, sometimes caused more injury or even killed people. (Look up "Out of position occupant" some time.) FWIW, wearing your seat belt provides more protection than anything else. Airbags are supplemental (even denoted "SRS") and deploy in bigger crashes.
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...Airbag+stories
Originally Posted by ken-x8
The air bags in the 8 are pretty sophisticated, going off when needed and only with the strength needed.
Originally Posted by ken-x8
The seat position is even taken into account for the inflation pressure in frontal impacts. Also passenger weight. Nobody in the passenger seat meant the passenger side bags would not deploy at all.
Got pics in this thread - https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/hit-deer-5-week-anniversary-76587/
Once again - TexasRX8_84, I'm really glad you're okay. Some people complain about how tight these cars are - once or twice I've heard folks say it feels like being sealed in a coffin. I think they're completely wrong - somehow Mazda made these tiny cars exceptionally strong. Search around and you'll see some horrific damage and folks posted here along with their stories of, "oh, *I'm* fine, but just look at my poor car!!!!"
#19
I don't know about seat position being taken into account in the RX-8, but I know your statement about the passenger side bags is completely wrong for U.S. models. The RX-8 (definitely the 2004 and as-far-as-I-know all later models) do not sense passenger seat occupancy. 1) I went through a dozen people at Mazda's 1-800 tech line all telling the same story, 2) there is no indicater to warn when the passenger airbag is disabled (European models have this), 3) I was alone in my car in a square frontal crash and both front airbags popped out. No offense ken-x8, in most other 2004 cars you'd be right.
Looks like there's been an update to the system. I've got an '06 US model. From the '06 owner's manual:
"To reduce the chance of injuries caused by deployment of the front passenger air bag, the
front passenger seat weight sensors work as a part of the supplemental restraint system.
This system deactivates the front passenger front and side air bags and also the front
passenger seat belt pretensioner system when the total seated weight on the front passenger seat is less than approximately 30 kg (66 lb)."
There's a light on the passenger side of the dash, just left of the glovebox, that says "Pass Air Bag Off" and sometimes comes on when I put my computer bag on the passenger seat - depending on how loaded the bag is.
My wife - who believes in airbags - gets upset when she sees that light come on during the start-up self-check.
So this is another improvement - along with the better heater *****, condenser rock guard, translucent white washer reservoir, etc. - that Mazda slipstreamed in over the years. Who says Mazda does not care?
Ken
#20
Be glad it didn't deploy. The airbags are only there for HARD impacts, where you would hit the front windshield/dash and die if they weren't there, you obviouly didn't die so they did their job.
Had they deployed you would not have walked away without a scratch, having atleast a bloody/broken nose from their deployment.
Had they deployed you would not have walked away without a scratch, having atleast a bloody/broken nose from their deployment.
#21
I think I heard about your crash on the news. I-35 around Austin sux dead bears in August. It has to be one of the most dangerous stretches of road I've ever driven.
Given you had an accident involving complete loss of control at highway speeds I'd say you came out pretty good. Thankfully, you were not struck by another vehicle after your 8 was already compromised. This is usually when people get hurt badly.
Given you had an accident involving complete loss of control at highway speeds I'd say you came out pretty good. Thankfully, you were not struck by another vehicle after your 8 was already compromised. This is usually when people get hurt badly.
#22
Thanks for the posts everyone, Im certain the RX8 is the main reason im standing here now talking, so im thankful for that. The insurance company is defiantly trying to take the cheap route out of this case, and was pressuring me into taking the car to a local repair shop, but I told him the only people that I will allow to touch the car would be the dealerships repair shop.. Oh and the estimate came out to be $8200.
The cars damage actually has to be 50% or greater to be considered totaled, which is what i'm actually hoping for. I'd really hate to get the car repaired, as my main concern is that it'll never drive the same again.
I had to do some arguing with the Adjuster, but I managed to get into a premium rental car untill the cars fixed/totaled.
I'll get the pics once the car arrives at the dealership repair shop, and snab some pics of the accident scence.
Cool-Blue-Dad,
Absolutely agree with you, if those airbags went off I would have more then likely walked away with injuries. Oh and no the airbag light was not on, nor has it ever came on.
Again thanks everyone for the support!
Hopefully i'll be back in a RX8 in no time!
The cars damage actually has to be 50% or greater to be considered totaled, which is what i'm actually hoping for. I'd really hate to get the car repaired, as my main concern is that it'll never drive the same again.
I had to do some arguing with the Adjuster, but I managed to get into a premium rental car untill the cars fixed/totaled.
I'll get the pics once the car arrives at the dealership repair shop, and snab some pics of the accident scence.
Cool-Blue-Dad,
Absolutely agree with you, if those airbags went off I would have more then likely walked away with injuries. Oh and no the airbag light was not on, nor has it ever came on.
Again thanks everyone for the support!
Hopefully i'll be back in a RX8 in no time!
Last edited by TexasRX8_84; 01-19-2007 at 11:59 PM.
#23
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally Posted by TexasRX8_84
The insurance company is defiantly trying to take the cheap route out of this case, and was pressuring me into taking the car to a local repair shop, but I told him the only people that I will allow to touch the car would be the dealerships repair shop.. Oh and the estimate came out to be $8200.
I think the estimate is way low-balled. My damage was over $10,000 and the dealership still whined about losing money on the job in the end. Now, I had over $3,000 in airbag replacement, but I only had primary damage to the nose (bumper, hood, headlights, core support, etc). It sounds like you've got damage all the way around - lots more replacement body panels by my guess. Based on your description I think if they estimate less than $10,000 they're way wrong. Hopefully they'll get more realistic in subsequent rounds.
In the meantime, I hope you're feeling well and healing well. You can always get another ride, but you're only issued one back