Crossed the Toyota highlander off the list

"victor" (victor)
09/25/2017 at 17:05 • Filed to: None

A recent crash in the silicon valley is the reason why....the lady ended up with serious but not life threatening injuries. But, this was on a city street.

What monster pickup truck caused this caliber of damage?

Oh...it was a honda accord.

We were leaning towards a highlander hybrid for a 6 passanger vehicle, but there’s no way am I putting my wife and kid in one anymore..

DISCUSSION (36)

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:16

I honestly couldn’t tell what part of the car I was looking at in the first picture of the wreck.

benjrblant > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:17

This crash is the reason you’re not considering purchasing a vehicle?

You’d better not google any other car makes/models because you’ll end up walking everywhere.

And don’t google pedestrian collisions because you’ll never leave home.

bhtooefr > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:19

With that level of damage, I highly doubt that the Accord was doing anything resembling legal speeds.

Takuro Spirit > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:19

People speed on city streets, too. Just look at that bus accident in NY last week. Speedo was stuck at 60mph in a 25 .

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:21

I’m just gonna say, crossing a 5-star safety rated car off your list for being unsafe because you saw one totaled in a crash, and assumed it must be that the Highlander is built out of tissue paper just because the crash was in the city and involved a Honda Accord is completely irrational and silly. From what’s in your post, you don’t have nearly enough info on this incident to be jumping to the conclusion that it is an unsafe car. Look at that Accord. I am no expert, but that car had to have been flying when it hit the back of the Toyota.

EDIT: Just read the news articles. Accord driver was DUI, so yeah, they probably hit this thing at high speed without braking. No car is 100% safe, and we have absolutely no reason to assume any other new SUV would’ve fared much better.

m-b-w loves his SUBAROO > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:22

While I’m sure most other crossovers would have performed quite similarly (except maybe a Volvo XC90), I can see how the image of that would turn you off from purchasing one. I pulled up on the scene of a fatal crash involving a 2013 Corolla a few years ago.. A few months later, a friend was looking for a first car and asked about the Corolla. Even though it had good safety marks, my experience led me to talk her out of one!

victor > benjrblant
09/25/2017 at 17:22

Well, let’s just say that it looks pretty poor for rear crash protection for something that is 4400 lb curb weight. This isn’t a highway crash. This was on a local road. It’s almost like Toyota just designs to minimally pass crash tests. Oh wait, they do ...

victor > bhtooefr
09/25/2017 at 17:24

It is a 45 zone there.

victor > Takuro Spirit
09/25/2017 at 17:24

Exactly. And hence why the highlander is crossed off the list.

Cash Rewards > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:24

We love my wife’s pilot

Jcarr > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:27

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/toyota/highlander-4-door-suv/2017

benjrblant > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:29

The mass of an object isn’t relevant without its speed. “Local road” here isn’t really meaningful either because any car could be speeding. Heck, I’ve seen and been passed by cars doing 30-40mph over the limit. Even if you’re traveling 40mph on a local two-lane road, a head on collision with another car traveling 40mph means an 80mph differential. If you’re stopped at a light or sign and there’s a 60-70mph speed differential between the two objects there isn’t a passenger vehicle on the market that’s going to protect you from that.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:30

...the person was DUI. What on earth makes you look at that crash from a DUI and think “Yup, they were definitely obeying the speed limit?”

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Takuro Spirit
09/25/2017 at 17:31

I am a school teacher and the vehicular madness in the dropoff zone is mind boggling. People accelerating, honking, making illegal turns. Madness.

victor > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
09/25/2017 at 17:32

The more reason to cross the highlander off the list. You don’t really get to choose who crashes into you.

bhtooefr > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:33

Enjoy your MRAP, then.

victor > m-b-w loves his SUBAROO
09/25/2017 at 17:34

Statistically they’re (Corollas) horrible too. About 50% worse than median average. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/driver-death-rates .

As I said another response. Primary and supplemental restraint systems, as well as some structural design on the front end gets you 5 star ratings. rear crash protection is primarily tested via sleds, and doesn’t track structural integrity. You look at these bad crashed to see where the fold points are and what level of severity there is in deformation. I can guarantee you an XC90 or a Q7 or a GLE wouldn’t fold like that.

victor > Jcarr
09/25/2017 at 17:35

Yeah. horrible. did you see the small overlap structural performance? They listed “considerable intrusion of the lower portion of the door hinge pillar”. Now just add 5 more MPH into that test, and consider how much worse it’d be. Now that’s building to a test.

Primary and supplemental restraints save you in a test environment. Good structural performance saves you beyond the test.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:38

They’re designed to crumple, I’ve heard; sacrificial car to absorb impact energy. But you probably already know this...

victor > bhtooefr
09/25/2017 at 17:41

That would be fucking awesome to drive one.

interstate366, now In The Industry > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:42

I opened that link out of curiosity to see where my TSX landed on the list. It defaulted to mid-size 4-doors, and lo and behold, the TSX was at the top of the list. This pleases me.

fintail > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:43

I’d keep away just because these are a magnet for the oblivious in the Seattle area. Add in a face only a mother could love, and well, I guess my 99 problems won’t become 102 :)

promoted by the color red > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:43

I’m pretty sure NO car on the market can withstand getting hit at something well over legal speeds. You can only design for so many scenarios before the “better” idiot comes along.

My mom’s Acura Integra was t-boned at a standstill by a Ford F150 traveling >25 mph and we walked out with zero injuries while the car looked like a bent pretzel. The Ford just so happened to hit the side-impact beam.

Takuro Spirit > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
09/25/2017 at 17:45

I had to remind the principal at my daughter’s school AGAIN this year that there were parents doing dumb stuff (like backing out of angled parking across two lanes of traffic) at drop off and pick up.

There’s a dedicated single file line for both, and there are those few special snowflakes that have to cut and cheat every day...

Takuro Spirit > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:46

Because it can’t take a ~60mph rear end collision? Not many vehicles can. Except those built for it like... police vehicles.

But I wouldn’t go out and get an Explorer just yet.

E92M3 > victor
09/25/2017 at 17:49

Damn! Looks like it was hit by a dump truck..surprised to see it was an Accord.

victor > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
09/25/2017 at 18:01

The highlander has some strategic points of using of UHSS and HSS b pillar forward, which gives it good test results on side and frontal impact tests. On the flip side, the XC90 and even the new Honda pilot are primarily VHSS, HSS and UHSS all the way from the A-to-D pillar. The new pilot is only 36% non HSS, which should make it a structural bad ass. I bet a Honda Pilot would’ve performed significantly better in the same real world crash.

In any case, we’re leaning towards a Q7 or XC90 beforehand. Q7 only if they come up with a plugin.

victor > Takuro Spirit
09/25/2017 at 18:07

Explorer w/ Ecoboost? :-P I’ve considered it. :-)

victor > promoted by the color red
09/25/2017 at 18:09

The thing is to be able to weed out what is designed to the bare minimum vs. what is designed to a higher holistic standard.

victor > E92M3
09/25/2017 at 18:24

It tells you how little HSS/VHSS/UHSS and structural crossmembering was used in the back end of the highlander when a vehicle with a -1000 lb curb weight inflicts that much damage. obviously the front of vehicles are designed for crashes, so the accord front end was harder. The accord didn’t have passanger compartment intrusion.

In most German and in Volvos, they’re designed for rear crashes. Surprised how poor it was for the Toyota.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > victor
09/25/2017 at 18:34

I can’t imagine there’d be many vehicles that would do much better as a result of being punched up the arse at 40 mph.

A Highlander (we call them Kluger for some reason) is just a lifted Camry station wagon. That’s why I wouldn’t buy one.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > victor
09/25/2017 at 18:38

But what is to say another vehicle would’ve performed better?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Takuro Spirit
09/25/2017 at 18:45

The neighborhood is a layer as well. #diversity

victor > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
09/26/2017 at 13:18

I am posting this as a followup. I went on a vehicle rear impact test kick yesterday after this thread. I couldn’t find an exact analogue to a rear impact test, but I found the FMVSS (Federal Motor vehicle safety standard) 301 test that requires cars to not catch fire when rear ended at high speed. It’s not a structural safety test, but rather a gas tank test.

70% offset (30% off the vehicle), 55mph. 3500lb deformable sled.

XC90

Sienna (Toyota K Platform, which is used on the Highlander too)

I defintely would rather be in the 3rd row of theXC90. But now I’m on a mission to find other videos like this for various makes and models because I find it so fascinating.

E92M3 > victor
09/27/2017 at 09:16

Yeah, just imagine if your child was in the 3rd row, or even passenger side 2nd row. Lots of metal intrusion.

My ex wife was hit at a dead stop by a Dodge Ram doing 45 mph in her 2000 Civic. It was obviously totalled, but faired much better than than this Highlander. The roof buckled, but no metal intruded into the passenger compartment.

victor > E92M3
09/27/2017 at 10:00

Check out the fmvss 301 videos I posted elsewhere in this thread. Mind boggling