Plays_with_Toys

WOW! Sometimes I am amazed at the carnage a person can escape from. That is a very scary sight, semi's are always riding my bumper when I am going to and from my girlfriend's dorms up north, wish I had a CB just to tell them to back off.

Glad that you're dad made it through alright enough. I hope his recovery goes well.

4RUNR

You guys get mad all you want, but I still don't see this as a terrible wreck. The cabin space stayed fairly intact, and from what it looks like the driver was simply restrained poorly and hit the dash/steering wheel. Flamed can confirm that it is more than likely mostly upper body trauma which would of been significantly reduced with an airbag and a belt that tensions during an impact.

And I still stand by that driving a severely outdated vehicles, as far as safety goes, is not that good of an idea. At the most basic level it's irresponsible towards your family, which could not care less for your fetish for old "well built" trucks, they just want you to stay alive and well.

And I might add, that family members also have the responsibility to explain the safety advances that were discovered in the last 20 years to other members of the family that might not completely grasp the extent. And if necessary, put them in a safer vehicle yourself!

firemedic

I still don't understand why you're driving that POS '99 4runner when there are vehicles which are much safer out there. You don't have side airbags, side curtain airbags, traction control, brake force distribution, knee air bags, active head restraints, stability control, 4 wheel disc brakes, not to mention you've got a much higher center of gravity than alot of vehicles out there, making you more prone to rollovers...
Maybe you should have your family members explain the safety advances discovered in the last 6 years, you are being irresponsible to your family every time you get in it.

Give me a break, some of us can't afford to buy a new vehicle every year (new advances are made very frequently), some of us choose our resposibility to provide a home for our family instead, some just like to be frugal, some like "old" vehicles. It is not as though Toyota trucks have a reputation for poor performance in accidents, if so why are you driving one? Of course the newest safest vehicle is the newest safest vehicle but in the real world the vehicle that is a couple of years old does not always fare worse, and we can't all drive brand new cars.

Your comments are in very poor taste. Have some respect, and have some tact.

Stegall984R

I dont care if your driving a top of the line BMW and it has index finger air bags.... You can still die behind the wheel of it...

Flame, this is the first ive seen thos thread, along with the other one. I am very thankful your dad is doing well. I for one have a very close bond with my father and I couldnt possibly imagine loosing him. Im glad you dont have to say you did .

aviator

I have to say i for one am against airbags in most vehicles. they discourage seatbelt use and seem to do more injury in low speed colisions then they prevent. did you ever hear of people getting broken noses and arms in a low speed colision before airbags? those are explosive devices folks just a few inches from you chest... plus they really have no place in an off-road vehicle where you bounce off stumps and bolders as a matter of course...But this is just my 2 cents...cheers aviator

leebee

speaking from experience, you really dont want an air bag going off in your face. both arms and chest were bruised but not a mark from the seat belts. the impact speed wasnt great enough for them to do any serious damage, the air bag on the other hand did. i know its a tough line to draw as to what impact force the deployment trigger mechanism is set for, the mfgrs must err on the side of caution so we get them going off in lower speed impacts sometimes causing more physical injuries than they prevent. i can only hope i never experience it again, it wasnt pleasan at all.

lee

RIPPER

Hope he recovers quickly. Gotta love the Yotas.

wrenchmonster

Sorry, but you guys think 20 year old trucks are old? Let's see, besides the '92 yota I own 1961, 1965, and 1971 International Scouts. I also have a 1974 full size International. 20 years old??? How about 30 or 40 years old!!! LOL

Bumpin' Yota

Hey I'm driving a 15 year old truck! Put me into a new truck!

Seriously get a freakin grip dude. His dad was almost KILLED! DO YOU GET THAT? Are you a highwaysaftey engineer, or a crash test engineer? Whats that? NO? Then how about shutting the hell up.

I see what you are saying but dude, your tact is that of a drunken sailor. Anyone with real intelligence would find a better way to convey the message.

Mods, I smell bannage.

Bumpin' Yota

Flamed4x4 - Im sorry to hear about the wreck your dad got into. My parents were nearly hit (broadside) by an 18 wheeler doing 70 a few weeks ago. Luck is why they are still here and weren't hit.

They were also in a '98 dodge 4x4 3500 dually, though all the technological advances wouldnt have done isht in that proposed wreck...

Give your dad my best wishes, hopes, and prayers for a speedy recovery. With luck he'll be back to driving around 20+ year old vehicles in no time!

Steve

ps - have a beer with your dad for that old 85 yota when he recovers (or now if he's up for it - doctor clearance first! ) I know if i lost my yota it'd be as bad as loosing my best friend.

Flamedx4

One of the first things he said was that he wanted his truck, don't let the insurance co have it, he wants to fix it. I gently suggested he let that notion go, the truck can not be repaired. (We hadn't yet let him see any pics or anything.) Then he said he wanted another one just like it. We suggested maybe something with airbags... His response was "No way, THAT truck saved my life, I want another one!"

4RUNR

And you said, "No dad, I don't care what you want, you have a wife and children, and if you want to go skydiving without a backup parachute, that isn't happening either if you care any about us."

Or is that "poor tact" too?

Fahrenheit 451

I know we get all emotional over our Toys, but a truck is just a truck. I'm glad to see that this one did what it could to help your father survive and hope for his speedy recovery.

Figit090

I think you should just drop the dang 'get an updated car' issue, it's just dumb and way out of line for this thread. If you want to complain about how other toyota fans drive 20 year old trucks, walk down your neighborhood boulivard with a sign stating your feelings, even get a megaphone and screm it to all the old looking cars driving past... Or you could post it in another thread, eithat way I really dont think that what you keep insisting is relavent here.

And besides, what you said isn't even kind; "no dad, i don't care what you want"??? what the heck are you thinking? That would probably make the man cry... just stuff this nonsense back in your head, and make a seperate thread on it please.

Flamedx4 - Amazing to hear that you dad got out of this alive, I'm extremely glad he did. I hope he has a fast recovery, and is back on his feet with you and your family soon. I also hope that he gets emotionally healed quickly and that he gets another Toyota, he obviously has a strong connection to them. When he gets better you should go wheelin' with him. Good luck with everything... best of wishes and prayers....

~Figit090

Flamedx4

No wife, bunch of exwifes, and his children are all grown up, but point taken.

He has a strong connection to Yotas all right, he is retired first from the Navy, second from selling Toyotas for many many years.

aviator

Hey flamed maybe you could suggest that your dad step up to one of our generation hiluxs (hiluxes?) they are every bit as good as his old one and have a bit more cab room to boot. Plus no airbags to get in the way (so to speak) haha. But seriously its great to hear he's going to make a full recovery. What's the word, how long til we see him "back in the fleet" he must be getting tired of the dry dock by now (even if the nurses are easy on his eyes). Pass him a get well from us here on the forum. Cheers Aviator

Flamedx4

He actually suggested buying the Flamed truck from me, but I'd have to lower it back down a bit, it's a bear to climb into. Like I would sell it... I take that back, I'd sell it in a New York minute if someone offerred enough cash!

Figit090

Hey man, why don't you look into those powered step setups, you know, the ones that electronically lower from underneath the chassis and down? I dunno, it's probably lots of $$ and impractical but it's a thought..

Greg_Canada

Take a piece, such as the emblem, off the truck for him before the insurance totals it.
Good luck finding another one!
Hope he recovers fully, is that me or does my eye spy an fj40 in the background of those pics?

MvCrash

Greetings,
I read this post with great interest and see that there are still some myths about belts and bags. There also seems to be some bad information about the physics of a collision.
First a tractor semi-trailers energy while moving is measured in Millions of Pounds. Even if it were on its side, sliding down the highway on its side, it would still have millions of pounds of energy to dissipate. A car or pick-up or any other type of passenger vehicles energy, depending on speed is measured in thousands of pounds. There is a tremendous difference in weight which causes the energy differences. Getting involved in crash with a tractor trailer is never good and almost always the passenger vehicle will sustain a great amount of damage.

As far as Belts and bags are concerned. People seem to think that the bags deploy according to the speed of the crash. This is only partially true. The sensor in the vehicle deploys the air bags after a certain set of rules are met. Basically there is a very complicated mathematical model that has to be met. It involves the change in time and velocity along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. Most times, people who are injured by deploying air bags would have sustained much worse injuries than if they had no airbags. You may be injured by an airbag deployment in a vehicle crash with a change of velocity of 30mph. You WILL Certainly be injured if you have no airbags and no seatbelts when you upper torso strikes the steering wheel. Lets not forget that seatbelts stretch as much as 15 inches during a serious collision. Seatbelts and airbags are a system to help prevent very serious injuries, not ALL Injuries. If you sustain serious injures in a frontal collision while wearing seatbelts and having airbags, your chances of survival without them would be minimal. Another myth is that seatbelts don't leave injuries. They most certainly do and even have their own name. Those that investigate car crashes call them "witness marks." In a "who dunnit" type investigation the belt marks left on people a lot of time indicate who was driving.

There are also injuries that occur just from a rapid deceleration. I have seen folks succumb to injuries that were created from the rapid speed loss, not impact. These cannot be avoided and are not as rare as some think. A change in velocity starting at about 40 MPH can cause these injuries. 99% of the time they are Non-survivable.

From what little information I have, it would be impossible to say the occupant of the vehicle in question was not properly restrained. There are several ways these type injuries could be sustained by an occupant who was properly restrained. I think it is short sited to make a judgement of this type without more information.

I have recently reviewed crash tests that indicate that full frame pick-up, even a small Toyota has a better survivability than a large sedan.

I hope this helped and please..WEAR YOUR SEAT BELTS PROPERLY..Sit down buckle up and give a yank on the upper belt so its snug.

MY BEST TO YOUR DAD I'M GLAD HE WILL BE OK.................