george3487

My Dad was in a fatal car accident a few months ago, he was driving a 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500. He was hit on drivers side door, engineers say about 37 to 40 Mph. He died a few hours later at the hospital from internal bleeding do to his pelvic area. The truck pretty much crumbled like nothing.

The truck has a 5 Star side impact safety rating, but from the looks of the truck it did not hold up good at all. The other vehicle was a 2008 Nissan Rogue. My Dads truck did not have the option side airbags.

What do you think about the speed of other car, and damage to my Dads truck. At first we thought the other car was speeding, then we found out from a police engineer, and our lawyers engineer the other car was doing about 37-40mph, and my dad 4-7 mph crossing over 4 lane road.

Photos are attached.

george3487

Couldn't attach image.

Go here for pictures.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/hcgl3v6w72c4y6f/R2w1uFlZrq

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k3n7sdoecmkc390/tq6-q5Q0i-

oldchevy

I am very disappointed that the truck did not do better in the crash. I always heard that these trucks were rated high in side impact. I have a 2013 version which is basically the same truck and now I don't feel as safe in it.

in2pro

george3487 Welcome to the forum, so sorry to hear of your loss...
There are so many factors that go into the rating, and unfortunately you can't crash every make of vehicle into the side of another vehicle and do it for every inch of the vehicle being impacted... 2 inches one way is life with story to tell, and 2 inches the other is not... So much of the testing has to be generalized to accommodate all vehicles of a given size....

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has some good information on there site Technical data for researchers and engineers

I know this does not make things any better or change the loss that you have suffered but perhaps it will help someone else better understand and consider the ratings when purchasing a vehicle with those ratings in mind...

george3487

Old Chevy: Well from what I know the new models have improved the side impact, especially if you have the side airbags. But yes I think the truck should of held up a little better, after finding out the other vehicle was not speeding. Unfortunately it didn't.

george3487

In2Pro: Thank you. Im sure there are many, many factors to consider. But I am still a little disappointed that the truck didn't hold up better. After seeing plenty of side impact crashes online with vehicles traveling 60+ mph just think the truck should have held up better. Thanks for your info.

in2pro

I viewed the pictures and would have thought that speed of the other vehicle would have been at play also... the intrusion looks deep into the floor pan, but its harder to tell about the door since it was removed...the drivers seat appears to have held up well, but again you can't see how far the door came in...