My Poor Flex, bashed up but we are OK

[acdii]

My poor Flex took a big crunch this morning. The winds were very strong and caused a lot of blowing and drifting snow, but you could still see far enough ahead to avoid other cars, or so I thought. We reached a small rise that has a house on it, there were some drifts much larger than anywhere else on the road, so I started to slow down, then we got past the hill, and the road disappeared, 2 seconds later, there was the back of a car, dead in the road, no lights, then BAM!

It happened so fast there was barely enough time for Oh SH to come out. Not even enough for the IT part. The next thing I know, we are in the ditch, airbags gone off, smoke everywhere, then we got walloped by the person who was not too far behind me. Then he got hit a little bit after that, and then another one hit. All told it was a 7 car pileup in this one section where the blowing snow was so bad you could not see the road. Up until that time the visibility was fine, so wasn't too concerned. Goes to show, can't assume the roads will be like that everywhere. This was the worst I had ever seen anywhere around here. It appears that the car I hit had hit another car a little while earlier, and both were sitting in the road, the car I hit had no lights on, had the flashers been on I may have been able to see it in time to avoid it, or at least not hit it so hard. It hit so hard the back doors were blown off the car and it was spun around, and then I got hit from behind by, of all people, one of the first responders who was on his way to this very crash scene. By the damage to my Flex I can see that I did try to avoid it since it was all on the drivers side.

Pretty sure its a loss, both airbags and the drivers side curtain deployed, the steering wheel I can turn 180 degrees with out any power on, the front is smashed on the drivers side, the drivers door had to be pried open so we could get out since the passenger side was in the snow bank and the wind was blowing against it and had piled snow up along that side of the car. The windshield is all busted up from the airbag, the headliner is busted from the side curtain, and the rear is all caved in from the other car. The smell of gun powder permeates the car, my clothes, my hair, and everything else.

The car did what it was supposed to, it protected us, it deployed the air bags, it dialed 911, it killed the engine, and turned on the 4 ways. But most of all, other than some aches and some bruises, my wife and I are fine. I am still calming down from the event, and the emotions are overwhelming, and I love my Flex even more, sadly though this will probably be the end of it. Knowing what hitting the deer cost to repair, this is far more damage done, and will most likely be a loss.

Some of the other drivers/passengers had to be pulled out and taken to the hospital on backboards, but not from the car I hit, and I am not sure who hit the pickup, or if the pickup hit afterwards, I dont know, it all happened so fast, now I know how the Turnpike stuff happened, one moment everything is fine, you can see far enough to avoid this, then Total whiteout and BAM. I never ever thought I would have this happen after 30+ years of driving including big rigs in these same conditions, but you roll the dice just right and it happens.

Thank you Ford for keeping us safe.

 

In a way though, I am glad it was the Flex and not my Fusion, it could have been much worse, the guy who hit us would have been in the back seat.

[corncobs]

I'm so sorry to hear that thankfully you are OK. You can't say it enough metal and plastic can be replaced a human life not so much.

 

I always think about that knowing that are really awesome safety feature in ours car to keep us safe. You just hope you never have to use them.

 

:(

Edited February 21, 2014 by corncobs

[acdii]

My ears are still ringing from the airbags and that was 2 1/2 hours ago. They always say accidents happen within 5 miles from home. Yep! What is so weird is up until I crested that hill visibility was OK, I could clearly see at least 1/2 mile or more, and had the car had its 4 Ways on, I may have been able to see it in time to avoid hitting it since I could have stopped without sliding, there were no traction issues.

[ptjones]

Sorry to hear about your accident and glad your OK. It's a jungle out there and you never know where it could be coming from. ;(

 

Paul

[acdii]

I only was able to get one photo, it was so bad out there that 30 seconds and I was covered in snow and was just too cold at that point.

 

 

The car in the foreground hit the suv behind me about 10 minutes after we crashed. The other car in front of this one was further down the road. The car I hit was behind this one, the car it hit was next to it and an F150 was alongside it in the ditch. The car behind me is the one that hit me, he was responding to the original crash, and had I not been in front, He would have hit them instead. The adrenaline is wearing off and the aches are creeping in, better go take some Advil.

 

All I can say is Thank god for such a safe car, I dont know how fast I was when I hit it, but if you saw the other car, it was a massive impact, the rear doors were blown off and the trunk was gone. I tried to avoid it best I could but there was so little time from the moment I saw it, to impact that I don't even remember if I had hit the brakes. I know I was already slowing down, I did that the moment I hit the drifts which are roughly at the last pole you can see, up until that point I could see a good distance, and that is the top of the hill. You can see that I hit on the drivers side, the car was only slightly centered on the road, but not enough room to go around it, so if I did miss it, I would have gone into the ditch instead, so who knows, maybe had I avoided it, I might have slid sideways into the ditch and rolled, and that would have been much worse. In any case, pretty sure its a total loss, there is a lot of damage that you cant see from outside, and I know the steering gear is busted.

[hybridbear]

So sorry about your accident! Glad you are able to walk away. Also, glad the safety features worked to call 911 automatically.

 

My wife & I saw two cars spin out and crash in front of us this morning. The freeways and side streets are sheer ice and snow because we got rain before the 10 inches of snow fell yesterday. Sounds like Illinois is no better. :(

[Ted Swing]

Wow. I'm sorry to hear about the crash. I hope you and your wife are okay. It's unfortunate about the Flex but at least it did it's job.

 

I don't miss the winter driving up north.

[acdii]

Roads were good, no ice, just some drifting, in fact up until I got to this hill, there were no drifts, just a lot of blowing, it was very deceiving. Now I fully see how the Turnpike accidents happen. If the car I hit had its flashers going, I might have been able to see it in time to have stopped or fully avoided it.

 

Just yesterday I was talking with a fellow co-worker about making mistakes. If you never make a mistake, how will you know to avoid it in the future, if you never make mistakes, you never learn from them. What I learned today, never take visibility for granted, even though the roads were OK before this, doesn't mean they will always be this way. I just hope no one was seriously hurt today.

[GrySql]

Wow, the safety features built into our cars are really amazing. Glad you aren't injured any more than you are.

That weather is unbelievable.

[acdii]

Thanks every one in case I didn't say it. I really do appreciate it.

[tr7driver]

Glad to hear you are OK. It was one icy morning around here.

[DeeCee]

Sorry to hear about your accident but happy to learn that you and your wife are okay. Hope no one else was seriously injured.

[acdii]

Here are pics, we located where it was towed and gabbed the rest of our stuff and I got some photos. Three of the other cars involved were also towed here, including the one I hit and the one he hit. Thankfully no one was in the car when I hit it. The red one was the one that got hit first, whether it stalled, or was driving very slowly, or doming the other way I dont know.

 

[hermans]

I'd be surprised if your Flex was totaled. The insurance value is still about 30K+.

Edited February 22, 2014 by hermans

[corncobs]

Acdii you hit the white one? The one that is totally smashed in the rear?

 

Holy sh** that was quite an impact I'm surprised your Flex looks as "good" as it does after that kinda impact.

[acdii]

I see at least 20K in damage just in body and interior parts. Unknown yet how much mechanical damage was done. The drivers wheel is pushed back about 2", and everything attached to it is bent. When I hit the deer last year, it was over $4K to repair the bumper, hood, grill and fender. There is a lot more damage this time, all the under structure is gone, hood is trashed and will need to be replaced this time, the entire grill and all bumper components associated with them along with the cruise control components, since they got destroyed too and threw a ton of codes. Unknown if there is damage to the transmission yet. The rear needs a new tailgate, and right tail light, bumper cover and related components. The third row seats are folded flat and kept the door from being pushed further in which kept the glass from exploding. Both seats are bent. The headliner is destroyed from the airbag deploying, so is the dash and pillars. The Seat bag deployed too so the seat needs to be repaired. The dash is busted up too, the right vent assembly blew out when the car hit us from behind and hit my wife in the head. The windshield is busted too.

 

The worst part is the frame is tweaked, both drivers side doors are out of line now, the front is in, the rear is out at the top.

[acdii]

Acdii you hit the white one? The one that is totally smashed in the rear?

 

Holy sh** that was quite an impact I'm surprised your Flex looks as "good" as it does after that kinda impact.

Yes, thats the one I hit. The Flex did what it was designed to do. There are a lot of plastic parts behind the fender and grill that blow apart in an impact and absorb the energy. It was the hit from behind that I think tweaked the frame.

 

Note the huge hole, like a boat load of explosives against the Cole.

 

[corncobs]

At least you were able to walk away!

 

Two people in an accident this morning on I-90 near Barrington Rd weren't so lucky after they hit black ice and a light pole.

Another driver died on 173 near Antioch also this morning.

[Texasota]

Very glad you are okay. The front end damage to your Flex reminds me of the frontal-offset crash tests that the goverment is now doing. Your Flex looks like the Ford designers did a good job of keeping you safe.

[2014FordFusionSE]

Crazy. Glad to know that you're ok

[Texasota]

acdii, you choose very well. Here are the crash ratings on your flex (2013 and 2014 ratings are the same):

 

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/ford/flex

[gemdc]

Don't have to be concerned about the rear panel being too shiny at least. Sure glad you guys are OK. Would not have wanted to be in rear seat of the folded white car (either seat for that matter).

[jeff_h]

Don't have to be concerned about the rear panel being too shiny at least. Sure glad you guys are OK. Would not have wanted to be in rear seat of the folded white car (either seat for that matter).

 

Looks like another massive Zaino job from square one on the horizon... acdii glad you're OK!

[Sleddog]

Glad everyone is ok... Your weather conditions are just one of the reasons I live in Florida.

Edited February 23, 2014 by Sleddog

[tr7driver]

In the old days, everyone was required to carry safety flairs. You are supposed to light one of those baby's up on the highway and warn approaching drivers to prevent a chain pile up. I still carry a box of 3 in my Triumph. Now I'm thinking I should carry them in all the cars this time of year. They last about 20 min. I think most state troopers in Illinois still carry them, but the cops usually don't arrive until after the pile up.