Multiple Barrel Roll Crash - No Air Bags!

[mds]

All cars are becoming safer by both design and testing, and Volvo are still out there at the leading edge thank God. If it means that we walk away from things like this then well done Volvo.

Isnt that one of the reasons for buying the car? Even if the other one is, the old bloke in the de-badged Rica'd V70 T5 full of dogs can destroy a boy racers day.

[ahal]

Originally Posted by rippedoffagain

Since then all new saabs are tested on a track under remote control with a crash test dummy in it. They plough the car straight into a wooden barrel mounted on four legs which is supposed to approximate the size, weight and shape of an elk.

Apparently quite a lot of people get killed by Elk every year in the Nordic countries ... because of their long legs / height, they often go through the windscreen and on top of the occupants.

[rippedoffagain]

Originally Posted by ahal

Apparently quite a lot of people get killed by Elk every year in the Nordic countries ... because of their long legs / height, they often go through the windscreen and on top of the occupants.

Apparently the matter is compounded by the fact that an Elks natural reaction to danger is to freeze to the spot and just stand there as the big metal monster with bright glowing eyes hurtles towards them unable to stop in time because of the ice.

I wonder if thanks like that contributed to the fact that Volvo (and I don't know about Saab) were quite early to introduce ABS as a standard feature.

[ptruman]

Originally Posted by p1nny

Only morons swerve to avoid animals, Reasons being, like in this instance, you cause much worse accidents. If you had been killed the idiot that swerved that animal would have got away scot free. If he had flattened the damn thing you would have a working car and finger!

you are very lucky you were as skilled as you were in getting it out of the path of oncoming vehicles. head ons at 60 dont see many survivors. and those that do survive have to live with the consequences for a lifetime.

Even a cow/moose? Granted I wouldn't swerve to avoid a small animal, but I think most of us might attempt to avoid something larger.....

(and I always like to think I'd aim for the verge, not oncoming traffic!)

[NewVolvo]

Originally Posted by ahal

Apparently quite a lot of people get killed by Elk every year in the Nordic countries ... because of their long legs / height, they often go through the windscreen and on top of the occupants.

Originally Posted by rippedoffagain

Apparently the matter is compounded by the fact that an Elks natural reaction to danger is to freeze to the spot and just stand there as the big metal monster with bright glowing eyes hurtles towards them unable to stop in time because of the ice.

I wonder if thanks like that contributed to the fact that Volvo (and I don't know about Saab) were quite early to introduce ABS as a standard feature.

More people are killed on the roads in Sweden due to animals running out in front of cars than any other accidents. Especially at dusk/dawn. They see the road from the headlights and runs for it (elks don't see good at bad light).

An elk will make any car into scrap (incl the occupants).

Because of the "tradition" of mad animals, Sweden (and indeed other Scandinavian countries) have had high fences for years along many many roads and motorways. They are in fact so high that no-one can jump across being 3m and over.

[NewVolvo]

Originally Posted by ptruman

Even a cow/moose? Granted I wouldn't swerve to avoid a small animal, but I think most of us might attempt to avoid something larger.....

(and I always like to think I'd aim for the verge, not oncoming traffic!)

Back in 1995 (when I was still living in Sweden) a collegue of mine was travelling on the motorway just outside of Halmstad. A woman in her car coming the opposite way swerved for a dog (no-one knows shy it was there!) and smashed into him.

He spent some 5 months in hospital with 2x broken legs, 2x broken arms, fractured skull and 3x ribs broken.

The woman drove an Audi 100 and my collegue a Honda Civic Coupe.

[Jim314]

Originally Posted by MonkeyMatt

As a true testament to Volvo safety I was involved in an accident on Thursday that resulted in my V70 leaving the road and doing 3 or 4 barrel rolls down a field. I have attached some pictures. I walked away with only a broken finger so no complaints.

However, none of the air bags were deployed, which I would have expected at least the curtain 'bags to have been deployed. Was this a fault or do they not deploy for some reason in this situation?

Another point to mention is the accident occurred in the dark, so I found myself hanging up side down in a dark field, but all the interior lights came on in the vehicle. IF this is a safety design I applaud Volvo. This allowed me to search around the car to find my glasses (which came off my face during the accident) and mobile phone before then finding a way to exit.

In fall 2003 my wife rolled her 1996 850 wagon (855) on a divided roadway (three lanes in each direction). Witnesses said the wagon rolled twice about the long axis and once about the vertical axis (swapped ends) so it ended up on the wheels facing the direction it had been travelling. During the gyrations she was unaware that she was rolling. She was aware that the shoulder belt was alternately locking and then releasing and was perplexed by this. Car was totalled, but she had not one bruise; didn't even have to take an aspirin.

What was your level of awareness while rolling?

In her case, she was in the center lane of three and accelerating through 40 mph after paying a toll when the car in front of her showed brake lights. She didn't think she could stop and swerved into the left lane barely slipping by the stopped car in her lane. The rear end broke loose and she fishtailed. The left front wheel rode up on the concrete median crash barrier and she remembered being terrified she was going to go over it into the oncoming lanes. This started the vehicle rolling and reflected it back into the center lane where it ended up on its wheels facing the car which had stopped. The driver of that car said he had stopped because the car in front of him had stopped to turn back to the right to an exit which it had almost passed.

No airbags deployed, windscreen was cracked all over but in place, front side windows broken out and gone, front end damaged (esp left front), left side, roof, right side, two tires flat. She was cited for 'failure to control speed' even though the highway patrolman had her going 40 mph in a 60 mph zone.

She attributed her loss of control to lack of DSTC, but replaced her 850 with a 2004 V70 base model 168 hp petrol which did not have DSTC. She wanted a base model but with auto tranny and in 2004 this did not come with DSTC. I fault Volvo for this failure of dedication to safety, but cannot fault them on this as a marketing strategy. In April of 2007 she bought a base model FWD XC90 3.2L petrol.

I took possession of the 2004 V70. I found a good home for my still fully functioning ride of the previous 16 1/2 years--a 1991 Dodge Spirit base model with 2.5L throttle body injected 100 hp 4-cyl petrol engine with 5-spd manual. The city garbage collector who had been collecting our garbage (dumpster manipulator truck) for the last five or so years flagged me one day and asked to buy it. He said, 'It's always parked in your driveway so you must not need it. Sell it to me. I need a low cost, fuel efficient car to commute to work.' I sold it to him for the cost of title transfer. It needed some work and I thought he would do the jobs which it needed.

[p1nny]

ok perhaps i should have been more in depth and said only morons swerve animals in favour of hitting oncoming traffic!
Im pretty sure the damage from whatever size animal is less than hitting an oncoming car at 60 mph! Had our volvo driver been adjusting the stereo and not been aware then there would have been serious consequences to the foolish and dangerous manouvere of the person behind the wheel of the animal swerving car.

Im pretty sure in this case had the person hit the animal their car would not have been a write off. Sadly the Volvo suffered because of their foolishness.

Still as someone mentioned before the reactions of each individual are different.

[rippedoffagain]

Originally Posted by Jim314

She attributed her loss of control to lack of DSTC, but replaced her 850 with a 2004 V70 base model 168 hp petrol which did not have DSTC. She wanted a base model but with auto tranny and in 2004 this did not come with DSTC. I fault Volvo for this failure of dedication to safety, but cannot fault them on this as a marketing strategy. In April of 2007 she bought a base model FWD XC90 3.2L petrol.

With all due respect, it is no good blaming the car. People managed for a long time with no seat belts, no ABS, not even servo assisted breaks or steering.

The trick is to always allow enough room in front of you to react to whatever the driver in front does, even if he/she slams the brakes on for no apparent reason.

The only way Volvo, or any other manufacturer could build a car that was garunteed never to crash would be if they built one with no wheels and bolted it securely to the floor of an abandoned aircraft hanger.

[Danneh]

Originally Posted by rippedoffagain

The only way Volvo, or any other manufacturer could build a car that was garunteed never to crash would be if they built one with no wheels and bolted it securely to the floor of an abandoned aircraft hanger.

That is until an aircraft decides to use and bumps into it

Anyway, OP - did your car have DSTC?