Yesterday my wife and I witnessed a terrible accident where a full size dodge truck rear ended a small crossover/wagon at 50+MPH. The wagon had a 3 year old girl and 8 month old baby in the back seat. The 3 year old died on the scene and 8 month old was life-flighted in critical condition. It shook us both up pretty hard, especially since we have 2 children near the same ages. I know the cruiser would have handled the accident better than the wagon but it got me thinking....I wonder what can be done to the cruiser to make it safer for the kids? what modifications have you guys dome to make it safer on-road?
land cruiser crash safety?
- Thread starter Yeti White
- Start date
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This one?
3-year-old killed, infant flown to hospital after crash in Provo
Looks like a Ford Escape, but getting rammed by a heavy ass utility vehicle will do some damage.
I was rear ended by a Rav4 going 40ish. The 200 buried the hitch into the engine of the Rav4. Wasn't that bad a of a hit though. I had worse impacts on the trail in Moab.
Big bumpers, rock sliders and drive at the speed limit or below-that's about it for mods that I can imagine.
Although the LC is usually not safety crash tested, seems like it'd be about the safest vehicle in Toyota's fleet considering its heft.
Being vigilant and making sure our kids are strapped in properly is probably the best thing we can do. Yes it is a challenge as they always want to complain about shoulder straps rubbing or the harness being too tight. When they are exhausted and young they do not assist in any way in getting their back and butt all the way in either. I have been hit in my LC by a lady in a Jeep blowing through a red light. Thankfully my sliders protected the body but I had 2 kids in the vehicle. A 10month old and a 4 year old. 4yr old was in a traditional booster where the shoulder belt ran through the seat over his shoulder and the lap belt came around his waist. He thankfully only had a burn on his neck from where the seat belt caught him. Since then we have now moved all 3 to these harness booster seats. Frontier ClickTight Harnessed Booster Car Seat
I have steel ARB bumpers on the front and rear with sliders on the side. Not sure what else I can do to make the heavy and safe LC any more "safer" but I know that if I do not make sure they are in tight, they will make the straps/belts as loose as possible.
I have steel ARB bumpers on the front and rear with sliders on the side. Not sure what else I can do to make the heavy and safe LC any more "safer" but I know that if I do not make sure they are in tight, they will make the straps/belts as loose as possible.
I avoided SUVs for a long time because of the safety factor and my kids. Way to easy to flip it on the roof which still worries me. Invest in good car seats and make sure they are installed correctly is probably the best option. The next thing is to make sure you drive it like the large hunk of metal it is. Going to fast on snow and ice lends itself to being in that upside down situation. I also looked at some of the totaled crusiers on car-part.com to get an idea of how they held up.
- Thread starter
- #6
Not a damn thing.
Many of the things that we do, like lifting, make the LC less safe by making it easier to rollover.
Crash safety requires sophisticated engineering, modeling, simulation, and testing. That type of work is beyond what the aftermarket can do.
Make sure everyone in the vehicle is belted in. Secure any loose cargo in the back. Drive defensively.
Weight and mass are what win in accidents, and alert and good driving are the best tools to avoid them. You can’t do a lot better than a 200 for safety, but I would imagine crash tested and approved bumpers like those from ARB are about the only mods that could make it safer than it is.
Vehicle crash test safety ratings are flawed if you ask me. IIRC, the NHTSA rate how a particular vehicle performs by ITself when impacting an immovable object. They should also test how they perform when involved with multi-car crashes, especially with varying GVW vehicles on the road. I think its opening a can of worms, but that's how I feel.
If your non-built, stock URJ200 strikes a smart car or a Prius, or a smaller Ford Escape like this, it may keep yourself or your loved ones "Safer" than the smaller vehicle but one has to be cognizant of their surroundings and drive defensively.
Something like a semi-trailer ramming into the back of your URJ200 would be analogous to what happened in this accident, pure physics. I try to stay out of the left lane when I see stop and go traffic on highways, some people dont pay attention even in heavy traffic.
I wouldn't be able get a good night's sleep if I were the one that caused that accident above or if I was the one that bought an inferior performing vehicle taking other vehicles into account, WRT crash test safety ratings, I understand a Ford Escape may have been the best performing vehicle in its class, but I always like to think of other variables/vehicles on the road.
One important metric is that GVW and its overall crash safety has a direct relationship.
Like my great grandmother always used to say, "You may think you're the best driver on the road, but that's not true for ALL of the drivers on the road".
If your non-built, stock URJ200 strikes a smart car or a Prius, or a smaller Ford Escape like this, it may keep yourself or your loved ones "Safer" than the smaller vehicle but one has to be cognizant of their surroundings and drive defensively.
Something like a semi-trailer ramming into the back of your URJ200 would be analogous to what happened in this accident, pure physics. I try to stay out of the left lane when I see stop and go traffic on highways, some people dont pay attention even in heavy traffic.
I wouldn't be able get a good night's sleep if I were the one that caused that accident above or if I was the one that bought an inferior performing vehicle taking other vehicles into account, WRT crash test safety ratings, I understand a Ford Escape may have been the best performing vehicle in its class, but I always like to think of other variables/vehicles on the road.
One important metric is that GVW and its overall crash safety has a direct relationship.
Like my great grandmother always used to say, "You may think you're the best driver on the road, but that's not true for ALL of the drivers on the road".
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Markuson
SILVER Star
Strapping in tightly is key.
Your Land Cruiser sits on a massive, incredibly strong, heavy frame. That Ford does not. The impact would still be huge, but the crush would have had much less intrusion into the cabin.
Your Land Cruiser sits on a massive, incredibly strong, heavy frame. That Ford does not. The impact would still be huge, but the crush would have had much less intrusion into the cabin.
- Thread starter
- #12
good responses guys! this is helpful.
Back in the early ‘70s, my dad started working part-time as an ER doc. Not long after, he insisted that everyone in the car wear their seatbelts at all times.
Wearing your belts is the most important thing you can do.
Wearing your belts is the most important thing you can do.
bloc
SILVER Star
THIS.
I’ve had one friend die in an otherwise survivable (though still really bad) accident due to getting hit in the back of the head by cargo.
And with a little less than a decade in emergency services been to two others that cargo made things FAR worse than they would have been otherwise.
The LC was crash tested in Australia and did very well:
If your kids are in the second row I suspect it's a very safe vehicle. Aside from getting rear-ended by an 18 wheeler or a dump truck at 65mph the middle row should be fairly safe for any vehicle. The third row is what concerns me more since there's limited clearance between the windshield and 3rd row headrest, so any "cabin infiltration" would be bad.
If your kids are in the second row I suspect it's a very safe vehicle. Aside from getting rear-ended by an 18 wheeler or a dump truck at 65mph the middle row should be fairly safe for any vehicle. The third row is what concerns me more since there's limited clearance between the windshield and 3rd row headrest, so any "cabin infiltration" would be bad.
i couldn't imagine with my 2.5 year old daughter. ugh poor kids and parents
Horribly sad story.
To add to what has been said above (steel bumpers front and rear, rock sliders, correct child seats and properly worn safety belts) I would say a better break pad than the stock ceramics. The TRD pads are semi-metallic, have better initial bite, work better in the cold and are easier (linear) to modulate. Good brakes can keep you out of dangerous situations.
To add to what has been said above (steel bumpers front and rear, rock sliders, correct child seats and properly worn safety belts) I would say a better break pad than the stock ceramics. The TRD pads are semi-metallic, have better initial bite, work better in the cold and are easier (linear) to modulate. Good brakes can keep you out of dangerous situations.
bjowett
Supporting Vendor
Keep intrusion out of passenger compartment. Cage it.
Battleship
GOLD Star
I like doing this, so you'd accelerate at the same rate as the truck when hit.
The belt in my 200 never feels that snug, compared to the 100 or the Forester. It kind of bothers me and I've wondered if anyone else felt the same.
