Unstoppable 80 meets immovable object (1 Viewer)

[M-80]

I am glad you are doing well. My boss and I have the LC disagreement all the time. He is 6'3" and about 300 lbs. He drives a Cavalier. He does not understand why I would buy and drive 70 miles round trip to work every day in a vehicle that only averages 13 mpg. I always tell him I didn't buy my truck as a status symbol or for gas mileage. I bought it because I know if the unthinkable happens such as a horrific accident like yours, then the chances of my family of five being safe and alive, albeit with injuries, are greater then in a Cavalier. The gas is worth it!!

Thank you for sharing these pictures and the detail with us. It makes me thank God for my family and my Land Cruiser. May God bless you and your family during this healing time.

Marde

 

[Doc]

Wow, that is unbelieveable.

 

[EDPA]

Having just been in a MVC in my 80 a few months back (which was relatively nothing compared to yours) and rethinking about my own incident, my stomach just SANK looking at those photos. I'm very glad to hear you are relatively ok. Regards to you and your family.

My ARB bumper protected me well and remarkably sustained relatively little damage. I was however surprised that my air bag did not deploy after hitting a guardrail which caved it in and popped out the supporting bolts into the rail's post. Thinking about it though, because my 80 was lifted (although only 2.5") most of the brunt of the impact, and therefore damage, was to the front axle and frame.

 

[landtoy80]

Scott, glad to see you are mostly ok. You are going to have a hard time getting through HLS at the airport
I havn't been driving to MI much lately as work over there is slow.
Maybe one of these trips I will get to meat you in person along with your new crusier.

 

[Beowulf]

My ARB bumper protected me well and remarkably sustained relatively little damage. I was however surprised that my air bag did not deploy after hitting a guardrail which caved it in and popped out the supporting bolts into the rail's post.

Thinking about it though, because my 80 was lifted (although only 2.5") most of the brunt of the impact, and therefore damage, was to the front axle and frame.

You answered your own question though it has nothing to do with the lift. The damage was done to the guard rail, not your 80's bumper. The air bag sensor triggers based on vehicle speed and deceleration. The guard rail absorbed the impact and slowed you down uneventfully; causing little damage and therefore no reason to deploy the bag.

-B-

 

[Tooth Fairy]

Wow.

 

[Augie]

Glad you are OK.
Incredible picture.

 

[JerryLX450]

Hurts...

 

[Cruisin'Carolina]

I showed my wife the pics, and as a former total loss/bodily injury adjuster, she just gave me a big kiss and a hug for putting her and the little one in an 80....

Speedy rehab!

 

[lahar50]

Glad I drive a cruiser.thak care and thank GOD.

 

[Trapper]

I'm going outside to give my cruiser and ARB a hug. Glad to hear you're going to make a 100% recovery.

Doug, do you have any pictures of the crane that ruined this perfectly good 80?

 

[IdahoDoug]

Beo,

That the driver's bag did it's work was clear - Scott retains the handsome countenance we Millers are known for. Minimal facial abrasions. No way that would have been the case without it. The passenger bag also deployed (80s deploy together). Must have been a heck of a bang between that and the steel on steel.

The rear doors are designed with an extra lip on their front edges. This helps guide the rear edges of the front doors outward so they overlap like shingles rather than the top half of the door jamming under the rears or worse. The design intent is to enable self rescue in minor crashes, and improve other types of rescue in worse impacts. In this case, they used the hydraulic tool to remove the B pillar, rear door and upper half of the driver's seat to allow plenty of room to get him out safely and quickly. You can see in the picture of the passenger's side that the front passenger door is completely overlaping the rear door as designed and is not trapped by the rear door. This door was untouched. It was compressed so severely that the pinch welds all along the bottom edge of the window blew open and the door opened like an envelope. The anti-intrusion side door bar held, however and tore a chunk out of the A pillar and the B pillar in its defiance. These tubes are usually made of boron steel - not sure on the 80.

On sliders, it would not have contributed in this crash, but I think they can assist in a side impact. My single reservation on them is the left rear area near the fuel tank must be well secured or there could be fuel puncture issues. To pass the German TUV standards, the fuel system cannot leak in a wide variety of crash scenarios and it paid off here as Scott was unable to get out in the event of a fire. With the rockers compressing, would a stiffer slider have torn loose and punched into the tank? Dunno. But as I have stated here before, that is my single reservation with adding a structural member down there that's not crash tested. I would personally still add them as they offer far more protection than risk in most collision types.

I'm not sure that everyone on the list fully appreciates the safety aspects of this vehicle. Because it is sold in over 40 countries, the 80 had to be engineered to meet ALL of them. German offsets, German rollover, US side impact, Japanese Wheel League, blah, blah. Little things like fuel line protection, high strength steel in the roof, and seat frame beef all create a statistical pileup in your favor when the worst imaginable happens. Try it with a domestic SUV that meets, uh, well it meets only US standards. A few years ago, we had a horrible tragedy here when a family in a late model Jeep Grand Cherokee pulled to the side of the freeway because the husband heard a funny noise in his tire (might still come up on a Google search of I90/Coeur d'Alene). While he was standing by the right rear tire, an inattentive driver clipped the Jeep, shoving it a little ways down the shoulder. The husband ran to the Jeep but could not open the doors because the unibody (no frame) had sprung and jammed the doors shut. Within seconds, a fuel leak ignited and he watched in horror as his two young children and his wife burned to death before his eyes. I simply cannot fathom that as I have two young children - in no way. Would an 80's doors open? Would an 80's fuel system allow that leak? I like to think that the 80 is engineered to a higher standard. Thank you, Toyota!!

DougM

 

[blupaddler]

Doug, thank you for the details and more of the event.

Scott, Doug, and Family. Glad you are O.k. I will keep you all in my prayers.

 

[Gold Finger]

Scott I am very relieved for you, that was a horrendous accident.

Doug I can only imagine what you and your family where going through at such a time. To see the remains of that truck must have been very distressing. I am very glad for all of you that he is making a good recovery. I wish you all the best.



I hope that this encourages people of the need to use the safety equipment such as seat belts and to maintain that air bags are operable and not removed.

 

[TLCgrappler]

It is remarkable to me how often something parked by the side of the road is hit. If you pull over to fix something, it seems you can never be too far from the road. I think there is a tendency for drivers to perceive reflectors ahead as the direction of the road, especially in badly lighted and llightly traveled roadways. Maybe this was one of those cases. Obviously the crane was unsafely close to the road

In any case, the damage is truly remarkable, and thanks are indeed due to God.

 

[Cruiserhead05]

Scott,

wow those are awesome pictures, glad your alright. Just another reason to buy a cruiser.

A few years back my older brother was driving my moms old 80 home from work, he fell asleep at the wheel and went straight into the woods at about 50 mph, he did have his seatbelt on, the 80 was totally stock, when it entered the woods it hit a 10in diameter oak tree and cut it off at the stump. the tree went up in the air, then landed on the roof of the vehicle, the stump and root system was torn out by the undercarriage of the 80. My brother woke up at the end, the 80 was totally but he did even have a scratch.

These truely are amazing trucks.

 

[ultimauk]

It is remarkable to me how often something parked by the side of the road is hit. If you pull over to fix something, it seems you can never be too far from the road. I think there is a tendency for drivers to perceive reflectors ahead as the direction of the road, especially in badly lighted and llightly traveled roadways. Maybe this was one of those cases. Obviously the crane was unsafely close to the road

In any case, the damage is truly remarkable, and thanks are indeed due to God.

You bring up a good piont "It is remarkable to me how often something parked by the side of the road is hit. " In the roadracing world this is called target fixation. Where the guy in front of you crashes and the following people loose concentration and follow you off the course also.

This little effect can be applied to some rubber necking while watching you cange your tire or receiving a ticket.

On a side note: I've actually have gotten out of tickets by pulling completely off the highway or onto a side road, it also helps to hint around this issue to the officer before he starts writting you up.

 

[scottm]

Thanks all for the kind words and encouragement. Last night we were searching for a used Sequoia for my wife's folks, and my wife decided to show them Doug's picture and description of the wreck. She sat a long time reading all your posts, and she was amazed that all these people who don't even know me would say so many nice things. I tried to explain that we do know each other, even though we mostly just talk about Landcruisers. She still didn't get it. So I explained that there are hundreds of people here who have spent time and effort helping me solve problems with my trucks. If I have a problem, they'll spend time trying to explain the solution. They'll even go out to their trucks and pull parts off to take pictures or give descriptions to help me. Some of them have spare gearboxes or engines in their garages they'll dig into for me. And I've done much the same for them. We do more for each other and know each other better than most of our neighbors. Thanks for everything.

My 3-yr old is sitting in our porch swing, loudly calling butterflies. I've missed a lot of that with flying weekends and engineering weekdays, so I'll get out there and limp after those butterflies. This has in many ways been a blessing for me and my family.

 

[tarbe]

Amen, to the above.

Not to mention, this thread may very well be instrumental in saving another life down the road.

And BTW, I ordered my ARB yesterday

 

[ranma21]

Wow thank God you are ok now, Scottm!! I better put my ARB asap!!