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As a counter anecdote, I've seen that happen several times. A few months back, a truck struck a tree, the engine block was 50' away, and the transmission actual

As a counter anecdote, I've seen that happen several times. A few months back, a truck struck a tree, the engine block was 50' away, and the transmission actually busted through a wall almost 70' away. Post-crash fires are certainly not common, but I'm sure you'll agree they do happen. I don't see any indication that there was an explosion (other than your typical bangs and pops as various gas cylinders detonate), and I wouldn't read too much into the quote about it sounding like a bomb. The initial impact could certainly have been loud enough to sound 'like a bomb'

mindcrime 13y ago
As a counter anecdote, I've seen that happen several times. A few months back, a truck struck a tree, the engine block was 50' away, and the transmission actually busted through a wall almost 70' away. Interesting. I wonder what would account for the difference in experience? Maybe newer cars are more prone to that? Maybe traffic in your area is moving faster... are the accidents where you've seen this typically on a freeway / interstate, or a secondary road or what? The initial impact could certainly have been loud enough to sound 'like a bomb' Agreed, and that would be my default assumption, lacking any other evidence.
- JshWright 13y ago
  >Interesting. I wonder what would account for the difference in experience? Maybe newer cars are more prone to that? Maybe traffic in your area is moving faster... are the accidents where you've seen this typically on a freeway / interstate, or a secondary road or what? I suspect that you're right that it's a combination of newer vehicle construction (cars designed to 'fail' in order to protect the occupants), and speed. Most of the collisions I've seen this happen on aren't on freeways, but they are on 55mph county roads (where the average rate of travel is often closer to 65mph).
- contingencies 13y ago
  I wonder what would account for the difference in experience? Maybe newer cars are more prone to that? The 'crunches safely' approach to accident engineering in consumer vehicles is probably a whole lot less viable when you are at the front of a truck with hundreds of tons of mass. OTOH, I could be wrong.

mindcrime 13y ago

As a counter anecdote, I've seen that happen several times. A few months back, a truck struck a tree, the engine block was 50' away, and the transmission actually busted through a wall almost 70' away. Interesting. I wonder what would account for the difference in experience? Maybe newer cars are more prone to that? Maybe traffic in your area is moving faster... are the accidents where you've seen this typically on a freeway / interstate, or a secondary road or what? The initial impact could certainly have been loud enough to sound 'like a bomb' Agreed, and that would be my default assumption, lacking any other evidence.

JshWright 13y ago
>Interesting. I wonder what would account for the difference in experience? Maybe newer cars are more prone to that? Maybe traffic in your area is moving faster... are the accidents where you've seen this typically on a freeway / interstate, or a secondary road or what? I suspect that you're right that it's a combination of newer vehicle construction (cars designed to 'fail' in order to protect the occupants), and speed. Most of the collisions I've seen this happen on aren't on freeways, but they are on 55mph county roads (where the average rate of travel is often closer to 65mph).
contingencies 13y ago
I wonder what would account for the difference in experience? Maybe newer cars are more prone to that? The 'crunches safely' approach to accident engineering in consumer vehicles is probably a whole lot less viable when you are at the front of a truck with hundreds of tons of mass. OTOH, I could be wrong.