Quote:
Originally Posted by geoffff
It's pretty amazing the difference in damage.
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As a former body shop owner there is quite a bit of interesting information to be gleaned from that crash photo. First is the A- & B-pillars performed as designed AND that the pop top DID NOT compromise the body structure.
The degree of intrusion into the front seating area is quite disturbing as it appears the Sprinter was hit square to the body at a high rate of speed. In frontal collisions of that are not glancing blows to just one side the engine should have been pushed downward under the floor as it moved backwards. From that photo's angle it looks as though it was rotated upwards which would push it into the cabin. If this van was a 4wd that might explain that but without different views its tough to tell.
At a slower collision speed the Sprinter's front end damage would have still been significant but not extending that far up above the lower windshield area.
Next is how the F-Series A- & B-Pillars are NOT visibly damaged which suggests the engine and frame absorbed most of the collision energy. I'm sure the air bags were deployed but the photo shows the damage doesn't seem to extend to the firewall, fenders are still aligned with the front doors which don't seem to have been forced out of their original installed locations.
It is sad life was lost, made even worst by an impaired driver most likely some sort of insanely stupid recreational drug/alcohol use.