So last night friends and I were picking up Cigars and beer for today's celebratory Canada's Day. On the way to the Beer store we got t-boned by a Caravan, it was determined by the police the impact was approximately 90-100 KPH (speed limit is 60KPH), we all survived without any injuries, here are some pics.

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and pics of the other guy?
no WAY that was a 100kph impact!!! (it does look like your control arm would have failed soon anyway, that's a lot of rust in there!) I've seen worse damage done from a 30mph impact... that'd be what 50-60kph...

Agreed no way was it 60mph, you'd have a LOT more damage. I would have said you would be good to go with a new door and fender until I saw the undercarriage . Everyone waslked away--which is good!!

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While not a "T Bone" accident here is a 60 MPH head on local accident with an S430 for reference point of damage

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head on would be equivalent to a 120mph tbone though... don't forget with head on, both speeds of vehicles are factored into the collision, tbone only the vehicle hitting the other is factored, and actually, the faster the impacted vehicle is going the less the impact of the collision.

This is NOT TRUE. A head on collision of 60mph between 2 cars is still equal to a 60mph car hitting a wall, NOT 120mph. There is an action and an reaction.

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If I am going 60, and you are going 60, and we crash into each other head on...wouldn't you need to add our velocities? It would make sense that your force and my force both must be dispersed.

Just thinking out loud

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I think you have to add them too.

the correct comparison is one car hitting another that is sitting still. two cars moving is twice the energy to absorb.

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..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

While I have always thought the speeds should be added Mythbusters did a show on this and confirmed the above.

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Assuming the two cars have the same mass and hit directly head-on, it is exactly the same as hitting a solid object at 60 (i.e., you could put a wall between the cars and the result would be the same).

Think of it like this: each car absorbs it's own energy so it's not transferred to the other car.

So my car absorbs my 60mph impact and his car absorbs his impact. Assuming that we absorb the exact same amount, it would be exactly 60 for each.

And now I know more than I did an hour ago.

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77' 300D, "Cartman" SOLD @ 150K (didn't know what I had)
83' 300SD, "The Superdon" 325k+ @ 28mpg
95 E320 wagon, "Millennium Falcon" 231k+ @ 24 Mpg
95 E300D, "Sherley" 308k @ 33.69 Mpg, currently anticipating a head
99 Suzuki Intruder "Trudy" @ 45 mpg

Really? seriously? Mythbusters disproved it? Do I have enough ?marks? I cannot believe a 60mph crash into a wall is equal energy as a 60mph crash into a car doing 60mph... mind blowing...

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I get it.
head on each going 60 is same damage as one vehicle hitting an immovable solid non impact absorbing object at 60... however that is not the case here.
head on is WAAAAAAAY worse than tbone. because the hit vehicle does not impart any energy to the collision, but it does absorb it.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I agree, if one car was stopped and the other was doing 60 each car would absorb about half of the total energy. If the cars were the same mass, it would be equivalent to a head-on at about 30.

Edit: Actually my example is off a little because energy is proportional to the square of the speed, not the speed, but you get the idea.