2 Accidents Shear Off Tops Different Ways With the Same Bad Result
What we have are two very different car accidents with the same bad results. Know that nobody was seriously hurt in these horrific crashes. One involved a Ford Escape smashing into a garage housing a C4 Corvette that lost its top, but the driver was OK. The other incident concerned a Ford Mustang GT that saw its roof crushed and sheared off.
How did the Corvette accident happen?
The Corvette-versus-Ford Escape crash happened this past March at a home in St. Louis, Missouri. According to the local CBS affiliate KMOV4, a woman was driving her SUV when “something happened with the accelerator.” Barreling into and through the garage, the Escape climbed over and sheared off much of the Corvette’s top.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said the home belongs to the SUV driver. It’s unclear whether a distraction or a mechanical issue occurred, but both cars were severely damaged. However, the homeowner was not seriously injured.
Another top-shearing incident occurred later that month in Anaheim, California. This time, it involved a Mustang GT plowing under a semi-truck trailer on a highway. Fortunately for the driver, the passenger side of the roof took the brunt, bending the top above his head.
How did the Mustang GT accident happen?
No information is available about the cause of the crash other than the Mustang driver lost control. OnScene TV reports two other vehicles were part of this mess. Other motorists helped the Mustang driver out of his mangled car.
Video and images of the Mustang’s rear show the car slid almost entirely under the truck. Only a portion of the driver’s-side rear end is still in sunlight. Front views show skid marks indicating the Mustang did a lazy slide into the trailer. Yet enough friction on that driver’s-side rear tire obliterated it.
How many tractor-trailer wrecks like this happen?
Both drivers are lucky to have escaped with only minor injuries. Though “Mansfield bars” on the rears of trucks stop other vehicles from sliding completely under them, nothing prevents the same thing from happening on the sides. But the types of collisions that led to the invention of the Mansfield bar remain a serious threat.
We’re not advocating new laws for such a device on the sides of tractor-trailers, but these crashes are still a big problem. According to California statistics from 2020, 74% of fatal semi-truck accidents involve tractor-trailers. It’s unknown how many are crashes like the one involving the Mustang.
Stay safe out there.
