Well, it's been a very frustrating few weeks....my insurance company deemed my HCH a Total Loss a little over two weeks ago.
I haven't seen any posts here about how other HCHs and their owners have held up through accidents, so I thought I'd share the story...please keep in mind, tho, that I haven't done much research on the standard crash test results for the HCH, so this may or may not be an exceptional crash tale.
Quite simply, I was in a T-Bone accident in the middle of a downtown intersection on a weekend night. Moving forward through the intersection, another car ran their red light and slammed right into my drivers' side door with enough force to throw my HCH into a full 360, then slamming my poor car's passenger side into a traffic light pole and the curb. Two windows on the passenger side were completely shattered, both rear tires had been dragged off the rims; I was unable to close my drivers' side door when I finally climbed out of my car. There was literally glass everywhere, not only from my own windows and tail lights, but also from the other TWO cars that were involved (the Red Light Runner and another driver who was forced to swerve to avoid hitting us). After a head-spinning 30 seconds, there were three cars that were absolutely trashed and three drivers in various states of shock.
Now here's the really interesting part....
NONE of my airbags were deployed, there was no damage to the front end of my HCH (the engine was still able to run...and there WAS damage to the rear end), no gas leaks, no electrical problems and the only thing that was moved inside my car was my rearview mirror (which had been knocked completely off of it's mounting). The rear axle was bent, as was the A-Frame and something like 4 different panels would have to be replaced. Even more amazing than all of these things is the fact that I suffered only a mild case of whip lash and a couple of small bruises (my passenger sustained a couple of small cuts from the broken window, a couple small bruises and a sprained ankle). Neither of the other two drivers were injured, despite extensive damage to their cars.
A week and a half after this accident, my insurance agent informed me that my HCH was being deemed a Total Loss (it had sustained damages that would cost approximately 89.95% of the car's MSRP value). I'll readily admit, I cried like a baby when my agent told me to start looking for a new car (especially with how difficult it is to find ANY Hybrids in Indianapolis). :unsure:
I'm hoping that each of you has as good of an insurance policy as I have, because I received my new HCH last week. I've already named the new HCH (Jaime) and am still working on my driving technique (replete with Super-Defensive Driving).
Has anyone else had an accident, of any kind, in their HCH? I'd love to see how other HCHs have fared in the real world, as well as their owners.

 

Bunnie,
Sorry to hear about your car, but glad to hear you're o.k.

I haven't come across any HCH owners in accidents. I know of a Prius II v.s. deer front end accident, but that's about it.

I not up to speed on this... so forgive my ignorance. You said no air bags went off. Did your HCH have side airbags?

 

ericbecky-
YES, my HCHs, both the totaled and new, had/have side airbags...I know that in my first HCH there was a sensor that would turn the passenger's side bag off if the passenger was sitting too close to the dash...I haven't had my new HCH long enough to make it through the owner's manual again, but I'm assuming that the new one does this as well (?). It's funny, tho, isn't it, that I was side-rammed and the bags didn't go off. :huh: I asked my dealership about it and they said something to the effect that the impact had to occur in very specific areas of the car's body in order for the bags to deploy. I dunno. Is there anyone who knows more about this feature/side-effect? I can't decide if my dealer was just knitting bull (so to speak) or really knew what he was talking about.
In any case, I'd actually really like to hear your story about the Prius II vs. Deer...did both survive?

 

Sorry to hear about your car, as well! As long as you're okay, though, that's all that really matters.

As far as the deer story, someone rammed it into their front winshield. I believe glass shattered and the deer plastered itself all over the interior. Needless to say, it was pudding after that.

 

it was moose
with moose chunks

 

Bunny,

Too bad to hear about your HCH, but at least you made it through the accident with no major injuries.

I had a close encounter with a deer just a couple hours after I bought my HCH. I live in Iowa and bought it in Topeka, Kansas. When I was driving home from the dealership I spotted a truck driving down an on-ramp on Interstate 35 and a deer on the other side of the ramp. I'm not sure if the truck hit the deer or not, but it certainly startled the deer and forced it into a dead sprint across the ramp and onto the interstate and on a collision course with my brand new baby. I switched lanes to avoid the deer and at the last second it leaped and cleared my car, at least the back end anyway. The last I saw the deer made it to the grassy median and hopefully made it past the other side of the interstate safely. Needless to say it was a scary moment for both animals involved.

I'm just glad I didn't have to try out my front air bags the very first day I bought my HCH.

Dan

 

mmmm. moose chunks. (a la Homer Simpson)

 

I am not making this up.
The day I got my HCH I took my friend for a ride.
She loved it so much she bought one the next day.
Three hours later she was stopped at a red light with 3 other passengers in the car.
A police car came spinning through the intersection and smashed into them.
Hit her front corner.
The cop car also hit two other cars.

$5000 Damage to her HCH.
Covered by insurance.
She had a rental for a month.

No airbags went off.
Nobody was hurt.
she wanted a new car, the insurance company said no.

 

Hi Bunnie_Tilley:

___Thank god you weren’t seriously hurt and best wishes for a quick recovery from the whiplash …

___As for the car, who cares a long as you made it out ok. It protected you as much as it could although it was odd to hear that the side bags didn’t go off?

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

Actually, the Prius story was from someone I recently met in person. I thought he said it was a deer. (?) I didn't get to hear all the details. I do remember him saying the car was in the shop for quite some time waiting for the correct parts. Front end damage... I'll try to contact him to see if I can find out more info.