ok, I'll post the pictures... I will try to keep the story simple.
9 years ago my mother sold her AMC Eagle and bought a 1984 Sedan DeVille. The car had 34,000 miles heated mirrors, rear defogger, factory radar detector, auto dimming head lights, doors locked automatically in drive, fuel data center... basically this car had it all but a freakin moon room, brown on brown. Yes, it had the HT4100, at the time we didn't know about it, so we got it anyway, that was a blessing because if she was in anything smaller, she wouldn't be here today. As I think back, I remember the car, she only had it *4* months.... having owner 2 Chevettes and the Eagle before that (old rusted out Ford LTD wayyyy back in the day) this car was a freakin mint luxury car as good as they come.
3 days after the accident, my mother was to start work at a new location (IBM) making literally *double* what she was getting at the time... which was pretty good for the year.
So anyway, here she was driving home from work, decided not to get coffee as she normally did (only if....) because then she would be late in picking me up at my fathers.... my father was... to put it simply... a pain with certain things.
So she sees this car swerving from side to side of the road, so she slams on the brakes to bring the car to a stop... while doing so, brings the car all the way to the right side of the road (NOT what I would have done) So she remembers the car swerving from side to side, kicking up dirt all over, then kind of stright out and hit the brakes... but at the last second, she saw the car turn stright for her. She said she kept thinking, omg, my new car... its ok, it'll just dent the bumper or something and it'll get fixed...
Well, my mother is short, and keeps the seat VERY close to the wheel... even if she quickly reached over and pushed the power seat control back, she woudln't be as bad as she was.... she was wearing her seat belt.
He was doing over 100mph, judging by the skid marks, the cops estimate he was doing 60mph when he hit her, she was completly stopped. Force x Mass = Acceleration? by the Camry going even 60mph, it was a whole bunch more force then the Caddy going 0mph.
To top that off, look at the angle of the hit... near center for the Camry.... extreme left side of the Caddy... imagine if it hit the right side? she'd be fine.
Ok, so her ankle was broke in 4 places or so, broken wrist, that is from the accident itself. The worst part? well, because she sat so far up, and because the car was hit at such an extreme left angle, it actually started to crumple up the passenger compartment.... now if this car had a "normal" crumple zone, it would have been "used up" halfway thru the event! it was the solid steel of the car that kept it together. All of the following would have been prevented by an AIR BAG (hence why I like them)... ok, her face smashed into the steering wheel...bam... the whole left side of her face was shattered... broken nose, broekn cheek bone, jaw shifted, new now has a plastic eye socket, whip lash.... worst of all.... she now has a frontal brain injury that can NOT be fixed, she is unable to work (been on long term disability for 9 years) she gets very bad migrane head aches everyday.... she can not live a normal life like she used to. The only way she gets money is because at IBM she put into this fund where if something like this happend, she will get 66% of her pay.... for the past 9 years she has been almost poverty.
The Camry driver was 18, had his little sister in the car, she was 12 or something. *they had air bags* all she got was a broken wrist, she wandered into somebodys house. He got a broken wrist as well and was unconcios (sp...its late) for 3 days, but has since been fine.
They had bare minimal insurance, they owned nothing. It was his uncles car, who owned nothing. My mother got nearly no money. The money they gave her for medical expense *supposedly for life* didn't even last a year.
Durring the accident, when she was still in the car... she had a near death experience... I don't know if I should go into much detail being that it is a public forum and all, but I will simply say, she was at the entrance of heaven and spoke to God himself.... she had the option of going or coming back, but chose to come back (for me.... rough situation with my father and what not)
Anyway, had she been in anything smaller, even if it had an air bag, she woudln't be here... I firmly believe even if the stupid friggin seat was moved back, then her head would not have slammed into the steering wheel... she woudln't have the brain injury, which is 90% of the reason she can't work, and is the way she is. Steam Cell research is going, but they can't figure it out yet.
I drove on this road alot back in NY, so I could see where it happened and stuff. *IF* it was me, I woudln't stop in the middle (or the side) of the road as she did... I would pull off into somebodys drive way, a feild or whatever... I would get out of that area. *OR* I tend to use the throttle more then the brakes when I am in an emergency situation, I feel like I am more in control... another option for me would have been to floor it (speed limit on that road was 55mph) and as the cars got closer, use some evasive actions to avoid the car, or if the worst happens, the Caddy would hit the camry, but instead of being stopped, it would be doing around 70mph (if accelerating from the start) at that point, the Caddy would inflict alot more damage to the Camry and the outcome would have been totally different... they *could* then say my mother was speeding... so she gets a ticket or whatever, but atleast she'd be able to like a freakin normal life. Thats why when I am driving the '79 DeVille, you'd better hope I am not put into a situation like that, because I sure aint stopping 5,000lbs of Detroits finest.
Ah well, here are the pictures.. kinda crappy, because it is a picture of a picture, but oh well. look at the Caddy, the whole chassis literally twisted, very hard to explain. That was a nice car too, really is ashame, I guess I kinda have a soft spot for HT4100-powered big bodys for that reason... dispite the pathetic engine, it was smooth and quite, and had more power then the Eagle... and especially the Chevette, but that car in general was as mint as they came, 34k origanal miles, it was a NY car but always garaged... it only lived a short 4 months. She then bought the '89 Brougham to replace that, and has been driving that car for 9 years now.... she just dosn't feel safe in a small car, she liked the '05 Sentra we rented, but she said she didn't feel safe in it and didn't like the small trunk... otherwise she liked it alot.