GiN

This morning. I was stopped in traffic minding my own business when that little green monster came flying into my rear end at full city speed. Not even a courtesy screech.

I bucked forward and hit a TL in front of me, which bucked forward and hit a Tacoma in front of her. Looks like I'll be needing a new rear bumper, trunk floor, exhaust, rear fenders, rear sway bar, tail lights, trunk lid, fuel tank, etc.etc.etc.

Amazingly enough, my urethane false mazdaspeed bumper was not visibly damaged (with the exception of some chipped paint) even though I managed to completely mangle the TL's metal bumper bar pretty good.

Oh and not a single airbag deployed. Anyone find that a slight odd for being a 35mph collision from the rear?

brothervoodoo

Sorry Gin... hope you get your gray fix asap....

Captain Amazing

Damn, I hate crappy drivers so much. So many close calls! And then the accidents that do happen! GRRRRR

NomisR

Well, because being hit from the rear, the sensor does not detect the collision due to them being on the front and side, and once you hit TL, the impact with the TL is not great enough so it did not cause the airbag to deploy. However, IMO, the airbag not deploying was a good thing because I think in crashes like this, it'll cause you more harm then good.

DaOcho

ya ive had a friend who was in a really minor accident but the airbags still went off. they suffered no injuries from the crash but the airbag scarred up their face pretty bad.

rx8wannahave

Gosh, sorry man...I hope everything get's fixed ASAP!

truemagellen

yikes...as for airbags going off...hmmm

StewC625

Not at all odd. The airbags are for front end collisions, not rear, and your impact speed into the TL in front of you was probably only 7 or 8 mph - too low to fire the bags. Be glad it didn't. That's BIG BUCKS to put back.

army_rx8

ouch that sucks to hear about your car (was it silver?). hoe it get's fixed soon and teh driver that hit you get's his/her lisence taken away. Glad no one go thurt.:D

czr

iTrader: (3)

Sorry to hear that. Maybe you can get a real MS bumper out of it. Better pics when you get a chance too.

Chrisbert

If the airbags had deployed it would have been a waste. Your body impacted the seat first. Had the frontal impact with the TL been significant enough to warrant deployment they would have. Its not just about speed. G-force due to massive deceleration is what deploys them. Suppose the bag had deployed the instant you got hit in the rear, and then you were shoved forward into oncoming traffic. You would have spent your protection on the rear hit when you really needed it for the secondary impact. Secondary impacts after airbag deployment cause a significant number of severe injuries.

GotZoom

Glad you are OK. I assume you had a few words with the driver of the Corolla?

Frank Patrick

Deployment is triggered by the force of deceleration, and strategically placed sensors. You were hit from the rear. Chances are your front sensors (2) did not trigger the reaction, of :eletrically stimulating a bit of smokeless blackgun powder, which in turn ignites BKNO3, which inturn causes Sodium Azide (plus Iron Oxide)/Drivers side and Cupric Oxide/Passengers side (don't ask me why the difference in chemical struture, other then the bags are ballistaclly tailored to deployed at a specified rate, obvisouly we have to get the drivers side bag up quicker (distince to impact)- anyway the Sodium Azide DOES NOT EXPLODE- it burns rapidly, releasing Nitrogen gas (Harmless) which inflates your bags.. this whole reaction takes about 1/63 of second, from point of ignition- to full bag deployment-a bit quicker then you can blink your eye. that's why, most people who have been involved in accidents where the bags have deployed, -never saw the bag- just herd the pop. By the way, using the above chemistries, you can determine- who was siting where in a car, as was recently used to convict a drunk driver of Neglent Homicide, who positioned his girlfriend who was dead from the crash- behind the drivers seat, moved his druken *** in her seat, and tried to claim she was driving. Iron oxide stains on garments tell a different story. Busted

stangmatt66

Sorry to hear bro. Same thing happen to me almost a year ago. Rear-ended by a Dodge Ram and hit a Tahoe in front of me. Cost $12k in repairs--new rear bumber, trunk floor, trunk, exhaust, front bumper, headlights, radiator, etc--and 7 weeks in the body shop...

Make sure your repair shop ensures the roof and C-pillars are straight. The RX-8 has a nasty habit of twisting the body up there in rear end collisions.

G-ReX

That sucks, man! Did the doofus in the Corolla tell anyone what the heck they were doing when they should've been driving? I hope the bumper did as well as the cover up front. Good luck getting things sorted out.

GiN

..And an update.

Total damage estimate so far is $6500, and I'm without my 8 for the next two months at least.

Rear end is mostly ruined. The deeper they dig, the more damage they might find. That GReddy exhaust is quite mangled as well. At least I won't have to clean it anymore.


This photo here is a pretty good indicator of how tough a urethane bumper cover can be in comparison to standard materials. Keep in mind the bumper's metal cross brace is halfway torn from the welds, and is bent downward behind the cover.

Oh, the horror.

RotaryRider36

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but considering the same thing just happened to my car I had to ask. The damage to the rear of my car looks almost as bad as the damage in your pics. How was the driveability of the car afterward? Any noticeable difference. Im sure you are still able to get around but I dont want to sacrifice any of the handling capabilities that car is known for. Body panels can be replaced but what scares me is that the car may never be the same again underneath...

GiN

The car drove perfectly fine after all that work. I didn't feel at all different from before. The fuel tank and trunk floor were replaced all the way up to the rear seats, which I believe they said was comprised of two solid molded 1/4" thick steel plates or something. Suspension parts were stated to be unaffected by the accident. I can still take the car at 50 through 25mph corners. Not to say that the car can't do better, but that's the limit of my nerves.

Dro

Thanks for the response. I had pretty much all the same parts replaced on mine as well [it is still in the shop] including the rear floor pan and all that **** ... I was hoping to hear from someone rear-ended as badly and their thoughts after the repair.

c41250n

iTrader: (5)

you should be glad that your airbags didnt deploy!

StewyRX8

Damn, a lot of carnage for 35mph!

zeblien

I have seen a few people in small cars (aka miata) were the airbag deploys during a "slow" impact. The airbag WILL rip the skin off any limb that it touches. So dont brace yourself by rasing your arm infront of you. OUCH is all I can say.

lesper4

iTrader: (3)

not a silver but a gray...glad you are alright, i hate being rearended.

CarAndDriver

Airbags are not those soft pillow looking things that were shown in slow motion. Wham....

Stupid drivers not paying attention and making others suffer. Grrr.

rotor_head

thats a lot of damage for 35mph ..