jost gaertner

Year 2009 December the 5th, I had a fatal accident with my C6 Convertible. Surprisedly the car lost grip and moved direcly under the guard railing (side rail) into a group of trees. Some of them deflected the car back to the street. The car (heap of rubble) stopped at the guard railing. Just brows the link: http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/mend...id2222512.html

The airbags were not activated?!?!

Is somebody out, who had similar experience, lost grip and/or non activated airbags?

I appreciate any feedback!

Hogvette

...can't read German but the pics are horrific in any language. What was speed at impact? I hope by "fatal" you don't mean loss of life was involved in the accident - sounds like you're still alive to talk about it.

LTC Z06

I guess you mean fatal to the car?

Looking at the picture my guess would be the car had so much damage, so fast, that various systems failed.

pettvette

Did you post this from 6ft under??? I can't believe anyone could survive that crash.....

Code:[M]ayhem

Yup, I've had a fatal crash once too but luckily my faith in Peter Pan kept me alive.

LTC Z06

Hagen / Menden. Seriously injured was a 46-year-old motorist from Menden on Saturday afternoon, just 15 clock in an accident on the A45 in the direction Lüdenscheid.

Between the junction of Hagen and Hagen-Süd exit, the road is three lanes, he was overtaken by two vehicles ahead of his Chevrolet Corvette, but fell out of previously unknown causes skid. He slid across all three lanes, and just before a third vehicle in the running right beside the highway guard rails. Then he hurled through the grass verge, crashed into a tree and back again in the direction of crash barriers. Only now, the car came to a standstill. It immediately caught fire and was developed by first responders, which also seriously injured motorist pulled from the wreckage cleared.
Rescue helicopter did not come

The man was treated by rescue workers and taken to a hospital. By debris three vehicles were slightly damaged. The highway was temporarily closed because a rescue helicopter was requested, but did not. The damage is located at 59 000.

LTC Z06

Look at the seats, this gives me more confidence in the safety of our cars.

tomc8at

wow , I can only ID 3 parts... Wheel, seat, rear lid...

torquetube

There was a fire, and who knows what the first responders had to cut through to get to him, so that may not be what the car looked like immediately after the crash.

mcandrew67

How much for those seat covers?
Getting a helicopter to come in Germany is a bitch

LTC Z06

Already in post #6.

vettedoogie

I am very shocked anyone survived from the Corvette. Had to be doing over 100 mph.

vettedoogie

I'm guessing they didn't have to cut through anything as it was a convertible. It looks like there wasn't anything around it but its hard to say.

cratica

I didn't know Germany already had Obamacare!

not08crmanymore

airbags only activate if you hit where the sensor can 'sense" the collision,among other factors.If you have GOODYEAR tires on there and the ground was wet or cold,that will cause you to lose grip.If you lived,you're doing good! Oh,and in english,or AMERICAN as it were, FATAL means you died!

Wayne O

Oh mein Gott!

Frankly, it would be a miracle if there wasn't a fatality...I hope not though.

c54u

Well, you are one lucky person to walk out of that crash.

anyway, how fast were you going? faster speed, generally worse the outcome
what was the temperature outside? colder the temperature, the worse the tires perform for grip
was it raining or just stopped? the roads are the most slick when it just starts to rain
what tires did you have on the car? summer performance tires do not do good on cold wet roads

all of these factors above will contribute to the accident.....but my guess for the car losing grip suddenly could be a problem with the active handling feature in the car. others on the forum have had experiences where one of their wheels locked up and spun them out...this may have happened to you as well. just a guess

as for the air bags not going off, i have no idea.

jost gaertner

Dear All

I am overwhelmed by the frequend comments and compassion (right word?)!!!

Sorry, "fatal" we are using this word also like "perilous or serious or life-threatening". I survived heavily hurt. Yes, the car moved underneath the guard rail. But please consider, before this, the car front crashed the guard rails (see the car front at the pic). So, the airbag has to be activated by the deceleration and/or intrusion!

The tires are from Vredestein and not Goodyear.

Due to the "private driver" fire fighter, the car is looking like immediate after the crash. The hang on panels (but drivers door) and convertible roof were just demolished by the guard rail and trees.

According to third parties, my speed was approximate 120 mph.

ch47d1sg

GM airbags do not deploy in partial head on collisons. You have to engage all of the front end sensors for the bags to deploy. Learned this personally in a high speed accident I was involved in a gm product. I am not sure how the side bags are triggered but would expect a similar design.

Oli1313