Minor crash become major, car crashes into stopped vehicle

Absurd lack of attention by the white car, but why the hell was the family still sitting in the black vehicle when it had stopped sticking out so far???

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They recommend you pull of the road and remain in the car
https://www2.safetyserve.com/articles/what-to-do-if-your-car-breaks-down/
However there was a case several years ago where a driver in a stopped vehicle waiting on the shoulder still got fatally hit.

For disabled vehicles in the middle of the road, they usually have a fire truck block a lane or two to permit safe operation at the accident scene.

Note the fire trucks in the full video of the accident my wife witnessed last week
 
They recommend you pull of the road and remain in the car
https://www2.safetyserve.com/articles/what-to-do-if-your-car-breaks-down/

That's not my take on it.
"Don’t stand behind or next to your vehicle. If the car is in the roadway, stand away from the vehicle and wait for help to arrive.

If your car is safely out of traffic, wait inside the vehicle with the doors locked."

In any case I would never stay in a car broken down on a fast road. There's always a safer option if you keep your wits about you. Avoidance (getting to a safer place) is always better than mitigation (hoping your car will protect you.)

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Here, nobody would ever stop on the fast side of the road, always on the slow side, then you do get away from the car because most fatalities occur to people who are stopped on the shoulder. Also the warning signs a mile back up the road would illuminate instructing people to slow down so you always have warning of emergency vehicles/recovery trucks ahead, by the time you get to them you are looking for them.
 
I mentioned "They recommend you pull of the road and remain in the car ". What i mean is to pull to the shoulder and out of traffic, which the URL states. This door locked business is news to me.

Its law here that if a police vehicle or tow truck is to the side of the road, then one is to slow down and move the to the next lane. The tow truck was behind the pickup truck and the lights of it may not been visible. There is also a curve in the road which may have complicated things, especially for a distracted driver that only looks up from time to time.
 
Here is a better URL from the Canadian Automotive Association

https://www.caasco.com/Advocacy/Roa...s-What-to-do-if-Your-Vehicle-Breaks-Down.aspx

  1. Pull off the road.
    Pull onto the highway shoulder as quickly and safely as possible. Remember to signal, and try to remain on level ground. Alternatively, if you need to pull onto the left shoulder, ensure that you are as far away from moving traffic as possible.

    If you CANNOT pull off the road, turn on your hazard lights. Do not risk injury by attempting to push your car to a safe location. If you are uncertain about your safety and think your vehicle may be struck from behind, do not stay in your vehicle. Leave your vehicle only if there is a safer area to move to, away from the highway.
 
I mentioned "They recommend you pull of the road and remain in the car ". What i mean is to pull to the shoulder and out of traffic, which the URL states. This door locked business is news to me.

Its law here that if a police vehicle or tow truck is to the side of the road, then one is to slow down and move the to the next lane. The tow truck was behind the pickup truck and the lights of it may not been visible. There is also a curve in the road which may have complicated things, especially for a distracted driver that only looks up from time to time.
Our instructions are to not stay in the car because cars on the shoulder do frequently get hit, often by a half asleep HGV driver and then the outcome is not good, it is the most dangerous place to be.

We don't have that law, but I do move over a lane if it is easy to do. If there is a lot of traffic I find it safer to just move to the left of my lane, people panicking to move over a lane ASAP before they get a fine can't be safe! However we only have a shoulder next to the slow lane, working next to the fast lane must be a lot worse.
 
On this occasion a minor accident resulted in the vehicle becoming stuck against the centre reserve barrier adjacent to the fast lane. I don't see a safe place there for the occupants to stand away from the vehicle, and I would not recommend running across three lanes of traffic. Whilst not ideal, I think that remaining in the car was the safest option in this circumstance.
 
Yup and as we saw from the video, had the occupants been outside between the vehicle and tow truck, their injuries might have been even more server due to the lack of interior cushioning and roll cage protection. However it also could've easily played out worse, depending on where the vehicle was struck and occupant location.

KuoH

I don't see a safe place there for the occupants to stand away from the vehicle, and I would not recommend running across three lanes of traffic. Whilst not ideal, I think that remaining in the car was the safest option in this circumstance.
 
On this occasion a minor accident resulted in the vehicle becoming stuck against the centre reserve barrier adjacent to the fast lane. I don't see a safe place there for the occupants to stand away from the vehicle, and I would not recommend running across three lanes of traffic. Whilst not ideal, I think that remaining in the car was the safest option in this circumstance.
Shouldn't have stopped in that lane then!
But having stopped, the safest place was inside the tow truck.
 
The vehicle was nose into the concrete barrier, I'm not sure they had much of a choice how or where it stopped. As for moving occupants to the tow truck, I'm not sure there's a mandate requiring that and what liabilities tow companies might face should an unsupervised person cause damage, whether intentionally or unintentionally or otherwise becomes injured in the tow truck. I know if I were the towing company, I would not want to undertake any more liability than necessary.

In this instance, since there appeared to be at least 2 trucks, the second one could've been positioned behind the disabled vehicle with it's warning lights flashing rather than in front of the flatbed, but again I don't know the full story or if there are any legal requirements they needed to follow.

KuoH

Shouldn't have stopped in that lane then!
But having stopped, the safest place was inside the tow truck.
 
Think it through. There's a safety gap of sorts alongside the central divide. It's only half a lane wide, but it's there and will normally be empty. (Edit > Watched again it's almost a full lane wide, over 6ft anyway.)

Although it would be nerve - wracking, a very safe option would be to stand 'upstream' of the crashed car. Alternatively, go 'downstream' but leave a lot of room so that if your car is hit you will be out of harm's way. Either of these would have seen the occupants completely unharmed in this case. I would have chosen either of those options in a heartbeat rather than stay in a car sticking out like that (and near a bend to boot.)

Re keeping doors locked, that advice is given here too, but mainly aimed at women in fear of being attacked. I think it's very poor advice, it simply doesn't put the relative risks in perspective.

But if you're going to stay in the car, at least keep seat belts on, the boy and mother clearly hadn't because they were thrown out. Thank god it worked out as well as it did for them.

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We're we watching the same video, though admittedly I'm watching on a small phone screen? I saw the disabled vehicle pushed into the back of the flatbed with the car and lots of debris hitting the barrier from the point of impact. The reason the guy outside the vehicle survived was because he was close the front of the car and barrier and the impact location caused enough of the car to pivot around him. If he had been farther away, he could've been completely crushed ether against the barrier or the flatbed.

As for standing "upstream" of the disabled car, most people feel less safe because then there's no buffer to hide behind should someone lose control and comes barreling in. In this particular case, it would also require them to walk dangerously into the traffic lane multiple times to go around the vehicle, at least once after the initial accident, then again to talk to the tow driver, unless they felt like climbing through which most wouldn't think of.

The door locking advice though, seems like it could hamper rescue efforts should a secondary accident occur and somehow disable the occupants.

KuoH

Although it would be nerve - wracking, a very safe option would be to stand 'upstream' of the crashed car. Alternatively, go 'downstream' but leave a lot of room so that if your car is hit you will be out of harm's way. Either of these would have seen the occupants completely unharmed in this case. I would have chosen either of those options in a heartbeat rather than stay in a car sticking out like that (and near a bend to boot.)
 
Like I said, if you stand upstream it will be nerve wracking. But that's a good thing, it will keep you on your toes. As long as you stay out of the live lanes though, the odds are good, despite how scary it is.
And if you go the other way you need to go a long way, far enough to be safe if your car is hit again and pushed along.
Anywhere between the two is very dangerous.

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The door locking advice though, seems like it could hamper rescue efforts should a secondary accident occur and somehow disable the occupants.
Most cars automatically unlock in the event of an accident.
 
But probably not during a secondary accident after the ignition is turned off and the doors have been relocked.

KuoH

Most cars automatically unlock in the event of an accident.
 
But probably not during a secondary accident after the ignition is turned off and the doors have been relocked.

KuoH
I've not tested it, but I think you are probably wrong about that, in most cars the airbags are always live unless the battery is disconnected so the auto unlock probably is too - never use a large hammer on your car unless the battery is disconnected - that has been tested!
 
Oh I'm sure I'm wrong in some fashion, but I'm guessing not all manufacturers see it the same way, as there are no laws governing this as far as I'm aware. I know I wouldn't want my doors to unlock just because some thief took a hammer to my headlights or wherever the impact sensor happens to be mounted, but I'm sure there are some manufacturers who feel differently.

http://www.hyundaisonatamanual.com/sonata-62-impact_sensing_door_unlock_system_if_equipped_.html

"All doors will be automatically unlocked when the impact is delivered to impact sensors while the ignition switch is ON. "

KuoH

I've not tested it, but I think you are probably wrong about that, in most cars the airbags are always live unless the battery is disconnected so the auto unlock probably is too
 
If people are inside the car and there is an impact big enough to trigger airbags then people might expect the auto unlock to operate, ignition on or off.

If the alarm is set then they wouldn't. Might not expect the airbags to go off either if the alarm is set but Ford's are known to do so.

Of course different manufacturers may do it differently, but they tend to be similar, mainly to avoid loosing NCAP stars rather than because they are following rules.
 
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