Worst wreck I've ever seen

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Well, that's what happened to a lot of those thousands of Explorers, when one of those high quality Firestone tires let go.


Nahh, wasn't the problem with the Explorer a design defect?

Same design defect the 4Runner apparently has...

 

[mrsilv04]

Then why was the tire recalled, and not the vehicle....?

 

[brianl703]

Because they can't recall drivers.

(A now-banned user, ScottB, used to argue that there was something seriously wrong with the Explorer. I argued back that the only thing wrong with the Explorer was the nut behind the wheel).

 

[andyd]

most cars manufactured up until quite recently were roll-over-able to some degree. Corvairs caught the flack, but VW bugs were just as prone. But generally, it was considered to be the driver's fault for driving beyond the capabilities of the car. Now it is a manufacturer's defect.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

My 15 year old cousin was killed 3 weeks ago in New Smyrna FLA when she was ejected from the passenger side of her boy friend's Jeep as his attention was distracted at an accident in progress. She was ejected and landed square on her head. Killed instantly.

If she had her seat belt on, she would barely have a scratch. Man, you never think these things would ever happen to your own family.

 

[firemachine69]

How fast were they travelling? Ejection is a real ugly thing, I give props for medics who can stand it... I've seen it once, let's just say it isn't a pretty sight...

My condolences...

 

[Audi Junkie]

My woman planted the front of our Quantum into the berm and went end-over. Had her seat belt on and still had the presence of mind to call the cops on herself. A bump on the head is better than no head.

 

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Then why was the tire recalled, and not the vehicle....?


Because Ford has lobbyists on payroll and Firestone doesn't. It was a design issue with Fords. To overcome the inherent instability of the vehicle, Ford misaligned the camber and recommended lower tire pressure.

 

[Bamaro]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Then why was the tire recalled, and not the vehicle....?


Because Ford has lobbyists on payroll and Firestone doesn't. It was a design issue with Fords. To overcome the inherent instability of the vehicle, Ford misaligned the camber and recommended lower tire pressure.

And remember, the tires didn't blow out, the tires separated but the tires held their air. The Explorers were unstable and couldn't handle the reaction of the drivers.

 

[mrsilv04]

Ford also used Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires on the same Explorer models (just at a much smaller percentage), and tire for tire, the Goodyear tires only had a fraction of the failure rate of the Firestones... despite being inflated to the same pressure and being built to the same specifications.

The Firestone tire was the problem, and the recall was correct.. the statistics prove it. It wasn't a lobbyist issue or a driver issue.

6 million tires aren't recalled without hard proof and substantial evidence. Plus, this wasn't Firestone's first massive recall either. They have a history of building tires with a poor design that is prone to failure. Remember the Firestone 500 recall of millions more tires?

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan

Because Ford has lobbyists on payroll and Firestone doesn't. It was a design issue with Fords. To overcome the inherent instability of the vehicle, Ford misaligned the camber and recommended lower tire pressure.


I own an Explorer that was part of the Firestone recall. The tires were absolutely horrible and had frequent problems. I don't exactly remember what, as I was too young to remember, but my father was always saying how they sucked. We finally replaced them with a set of Dunlops, and never had another issue. That Explorer was my first car, and as teenage boys frequently do, I did some REALLY stupid and reckless driving in it, more than I care to admit. Guess what? I never flipped it, never came close actually, even taking sharp turns at very high rates of speed. I can't imagine what kind of stupid move would actually require one to flip over. The Explorer is a very well designed and constructed vehicle. However, I could understand how it would be much, much easier to flip an Explorer if a tire blew out as that would obviously seriously affect it's handling characteristics, but my point is, if the vehicle's equipment is functioning as it should, you should really have no fear of flipping it over. As I said before, it would take something REALLY freakin' stupid to make it flip. BTW, I do not condone driving recklessly and I really hope no one ever acts as stupid as I did when I was younger.

 

[OVERKILL]

I had a 1997 Explorer and I was the 2nd, owner, so the Firestone tires were long gone. My wife (at the time, my girlfriend) was driving and took a turn too fast. She lost control.

We came out of the curve in a slide, and continued to slide sideways down the hill. The truck never once felt like it was going to roll. I kicked her feet out of the pedal area and grabbed the wheel, and steered us into somebody's driveway where we stopped.

We were both VERY shaken, but the Michelin's held and the vehicle never once felt "unstable".

My mother's Expedition had the tires replaced under the Firestone recall, there were a pile of vehicles that were fitted with those tires that had them recalled, it seems they were simply less prone to rollover and subsequently didn't get the news coverage that the Explorer did.

My sister now owns that Explorer, and it still has Michelin's on it, albeit, it's 3rd set

 

[wantin150]

Just because one takes a turn at a high rate of speed doesn't automatically cause a vehicle to roll. Most roll overs are a result of the vehicle "tripping" over it's own tires. As the vehicle slides, it either impacts an object or digs in (say a soft shoulder). The high center of gravity (and momentum) then causes the roll. In the case of a blow out, the loss of control (usually with the wheels turned), will cause the vehicle to roll (read high critical speed or yaw). It's all about momentum. I've seen trucks roll and I've seen Mustangs roll. Large, top heavy, vehicles are just more prone.

 

[OVERKILL]

Just to clarify, it was an "S" bend on the top of a hill, with the bottom of the S heading you down the hill. We went down the hill on a 45-degree angle taking up both lanes.

I was able to take control of the vehicle and direct it in a sane manner into a laneway after ending the slide.

I am sure that going into the ditch or deep into the shoulder could have caused the vehicle to roll, but then that would have been driver err, and not the fault of the vehicle.

 

[Drew99GT]

This accident that I saw was on perfectly straight road. Looked like the tire just flat out exploded and disintegrated, sending the vehicle into a sharp skid to the left, driver couldn't hang on to it, and the vehicle hit the median skidding sideways at 75 mph and once it hit the grass, the tires dug in and all the momentum went into flipping the vehicle. There were bits and pieces of tire for about 50 - 100 feet before you could see where the vehicle went through the median and did some agricultural work (grass and dirt thrown up everywhere).

In a situation like that, 99.9 % of drivers probably couldn't control the vehicle - hence the reason to always wear your seat belt and check your tires - not only pressures but check the tread and sidewalls for any obvious bulges or separation/cracking .

The 4 Runner looked like Grave Digger did a couple passes over it...

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
This accident that I saw was on perfectly straight road. Looked like the tire just flat out exploded and disintegrated, sending the vehicle into a sharp skid to the left, driver couldn't hang on to it, and the vehicle hit the median skidding sideways at 75 mph and once it hit the grass, the tires dug in and all the momentum went into flipping the vehicle. There were bits and pieces of tire for about 50 - 100 feet before you could see where the vehicle went through the median and did some agricultural work (grass and dirt thrown up everywhere).

In a situation like that, 99.9 % of drivers probably couldn't control the vehicle - hence the reason to always wear your seat belt and check your tires - not only pressures but check the tread and sidewalls for any obvious bulges or separation/cracking .

The 4 Runner looked like Grave Digger did a couple passes over it...


That's awful

Reinforces the mantra about wearing your seatbelt and arriving alive though.

 

[Barkleymut]

The firestones that were on my Explorer got recalled, I was happy to get free tires since they had 35K on them. My Explorer feels very capable at all times and have never once felt as if it were unsafe. One of my neighbors flipped his Trailblazer a year ago and said if he was driving a car nothing would have happened. I really really had to bite my lip, cause I was thinking yeah I see at least 3 rolled SUV's on the way to work everyday you moron. The main problem with the Firestones is that when greatly underinflated in hot weather they would fail at higher speeds. Leave it to the American public to drive around with tires that are at half the pressure they should be.

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: Barkleymut
The main problem with the Firestones is that when greatly underinflated in hot weather they would fail at higher speeds.


Research showed that the main problem with the Firestone tire was the design of the tire itself, and a manufacturing technique that was unique to one plant.

A contributing factor was also a prolonged labor strife at one plant. Tires manufactured during periods of labor unrest failed at higher percentages, versus tires manufactured during periods of good relations between management and the union. Tire failures can be tracked in this way because every tire has a week and year code stamped into the sidewall.

And sure, any tire will have a higher failure rate when people don't know how to use a tire pressure gauge.

 

[Steve S]

The worst wreck I ever saw was when I watched my beloved 92 Toy p/u get totalled it was really hit hard and good thing I was not in it it got hit really hard.

 

[wantin150]

Car A is west on I9999 traveling the posted 70 mph limit. Car B is west on same road. Car B attempts to change lanes to the left causing Car A to swerve left. Car A enters median. Driver over corrects and Car A comes back into the right lane, striking Car C. Car A then goes back into the median and flips upside down, not rolls, just goes upside down. Car A, while upside down, enters the east bound travel lanes and gets hit head on (although upside down) by Car D at an estimated 55 mph as there was VERY little reaction time. Car A was a Nissan SUV IIRC. 21 year old college student dies strapped into her seatbelt. Never had a chance. Car D was a sedan, maybe Camry or Accord. Front end to windshield isn't a nice mix.

Not the worst but up there with the train vs pedestrian and the multi vehicles vs pedestrians and bicycle vs Nissan Pkp.