Think twice before putting loved ones in small cars, even if NCAP 5 rated

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max veloce

max veloce

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Here's what can happen when Peugeot 109 (NCAP 5) is hit at speed by a A5 Audi.

Lesson leaned.....

mum car crash.jpg

mum car crash1.jpg
 
Holy Moly

Hard to tell what happened to the passenger cell, which is the important thing....some creasing of the roof on the rear passenger side.

A bigger car is always going to fair better, just due to more metal to absorb the energy.


I used to do a lot of motoways miles, will never forget seeing a micra that had been caught (front and back) between to two trucks.


In most situations a small new car will be better than an old bigger car.
 
tricky to form an opinion without seeing the front of the audi
 
My Mrs doesn't deserve a nice car as she treats it like shit but for the safety of my kids they ride in a full fat RR. It's a shame but the risk of someone hitting them because on their phone, doing make up, anything other than looking where they're going is too high.
 
Agreed. My Mrs wont drive anything bigger than her Evoque but thats better than a 106.

Sad thing is some people of course cannot afford more.

I do remember however on an old Top Gear when they crashed an old 960 Volve est head on into the front of a Clio (Remember Volvo’s have always been marketed as very safe cars), and iirc, the front occupants in the Volvo would have needed new legs whereas the Clio saftey cell was untouched with the doors even opening fine.

New vs new though, you want to be in the biggest car and as I live in Berko where the defacto car is a big SUV I best get that Raptor after all.
 
The front end of the Audi was crumpled-in about 12/14", but not destroyed like the 109.

Small cars may look cute and be easy to park etc. and I take onboard what Knickers mentions about affordability of course, but they don't appear to be able to stand up to the forces larger vehicles can exert upon them in a big impact like on the 11th of August at Cooper Bridge near Huddersfield.

The driver of the Audi was taken away with some injuries too, but he was taken by the Police having just blown 72mg (allegedly) at 8:45 in the morning, this was three Saturdays ago.

The driver and passenger of the 109 were far less fortunate, my dear Mum was the passenger, she passed away shortly after the crash due to her injuries despite all of the airbags deploying in the 109 and the paramedics doing their level best to save her, her husband was the driver of the 109, he sustained broken ribs, a fractured pelvis and a punctured lung, he could barley breath or talk at her funeral yesterday. All that damage and that's with an NCAP 5 rating in a small car.

Both cars in the pictures are facing the opposite way to the way they were travelling at the time of impact. The Audi had just negotiated the roundabout and traffic lights in the background, whilst it was an S5 I do not believe he could have been doing massive speed, nor could the 109 as it was slowing for the roundabout. I'm told he clipped the RHD side curb which sent him directly into the oncoming 109.

I share this with you today for this reason alone, I bought this small car for my Mum, it's what she wanted, but now I just feel deep sorrow for her loss and guilt for buying her a small car.

My lesson has been hard leaned over the past 3 weeks, despite the other driver being DUI as long as there are large cars on the road I will not buy another small car...……. ever
 
sobering...sorry to hear of your loss
 
That's shocking story, thoughts with you and your family
 
Stu, I don’t have any other words...my heartfelt condolences to you and your family.
 
Desperately sorry for your loss, it was the drunk driver that caused the accident and ultimately the injuries and loss of your mum. Being in a new Ncap 5 car probably saved the drivers life.

Unfortunately at out parents ages any high speed accident is going to cause problems.
 
Fook, sorry to hear about this , terrible thing to happen .
 
Oh Christ I’m so sorry to hear this Stu. I responded quickly and had no idea it was so close to your heart.

On 16th Nov 2001, my Dad was driving to my work to see me on my birthday (I wasn't aware of this), in his “run around”, nissan Micra which I had bought him, leaving his BMW 750iL (he liked a car for best), in the garage.

I couldnt drive my usual journey home that night as the road was closed which made me late to meet all my friends who came out that night to celebrate with me. It was a messy night with me finally arriving home at around 3am.
I was awoke abruptly at 7am by my brither standing on my front lawn and throwing stanw at my window to wake me. “He’s dead, Dad’s been killed” he said upto me.

Witnesses say he was was stationary at the point the transit van carreered into him. We were told that he died instantly but in court it came out that he had indeed suffered for over forty five minutes and this is the part I still to this day struggle with.

The driver of the van had lost control trying to get a hold of his dog which was jumping around.

Stuart, I’m sorry for your loss and really embarrased that I didn’t pick uo that it was you who had been directly affected so. I do however understand exactly what you are going through There is little more one can say at this time but I will share this last point as I hope that it help you.
The coroner told me of my Dad that the bigger car likely would not have changed the outcome but instead just prolonged Dad’s suffering up to that moment. i try to take the positive from that.

Please do not feel responsible in any way. You did everything right by your Mum I’m absolutely sure.
 
tragic .so sorry to hear both stories .I suppose everyone thinks that wont happen to me or my family .so sad
 
Truly sobering reading, really sorry for your loss.

My girlfriends parents bought her a £100 Nissan Micra to learn to drive in. I put a quick stop to that, the car is now gone as I didn’t feel it’s safe. I’ve told her that when she passes her test I’ll buy her a car which is as safe as possible, probably a new Mini.
 
Thank you for your post and warning and so sorry for your loss. It is a sobering read and also Nick’s story.

Makes me stop and think as I have a Polo for my Mum...
 
Very sorry to read about the loss of your Father in similar circumstances Nick, truly awful, how really shocking and awful that was for you and your family.

When I first posted I intended only to caution about what I believe didn't live up to my expectations, the NCAP5 rating, I maybe wrong and that's as good as impact safety gets even in new cars. Regrettably I wasn't being mindful enough that others may have been through similar situations when I wrote the second more detailed post, apologies for that, all the same it felt right to share and inform for good intended purpose.

Many people have read this thread already, whether you have sent supportive messages or posted or even just took a moment to think about this, thank you.

MV
 
MV. Awfully sad , I’m sorry for your loss.

Nick, your story is really sad too, time is a great healer, however, I believe these traumas never go away.
 
So sorry for your loss mv, thoughts to you and your family, hope your dad recovers quickly.

Regards your guilt, stay strong, it wasn't your fault.
 
Very sorry for your loss and a very sad story. I think it’s always hard when you have done something for someone else, if you had bought a bigger car that she didn’t want or feel comfortable with and the outcome was the same you would have wondered if that was partly to blame and wished you had got the smaller car she asked for and so on. Accidents are horrible but there are so many external influences that can sometimes just put someone in the wrong place at the wrong time sadly.
 
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