A Corvette driver miraculously survives a terrifying crash when his 198 mph Corvette Z06 crashed into the back of a box truck. The photo above was taken by the Los Angeles Fire Department while the crew worked to free the driver. The top of the black Z06 is completely shaved as the car gets pinned up to its rear axles underneath. The fire department had to lift the truck off the Corvette 206 and its driver. The driver should not be alive.
Cheating death, the driver managed to duck just as his Corvette slammed into the truck. The accident occurred Monday night at LA's Sepulvda Pass, not too far from Mulholland Drive, at approximately 11:10 p.m. The driver was later taken to the hospital too treat minor injuries. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
In 1967, darling playboy playmate Jayne Mansfield was famously killed in a similar accident that crushed her skill in two. Since the tragedy, U.S. highway safety regulations now require semi trucks to have robust underride guards to prevent serious collisions. As the LA Fire Department photos suggest, the truck involved in the accident with the Corvette had an underride guard. However, the guard failed to properly protect the driver behind from underride
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently conducted tests on the underride guards for most big rig trailers. While the underride guards effectively minimize damage to passenger cabins when vehicles crash into it head on, IIHS realized the outer edges of an underride guard do not have the strength to prevent deadly offset underride collisions.
The IIHS tests were conducted on the world's eight largest trailer (Great Dane, Hyundai, Manac, Stoughton, Strick, Utility, Vangard, and Wabash) manufacturers. All trailers were fitted with underride guards that met both U.S. and Canadian safety standards. However, when subjected to a 30 percent offset crash test with a Chevrolet Malibu, Manac was the only one of the eight trailers to pass the crash test. When the offset crash test was increased to 50 percent, all trailers passed except for the Vangard.
Be sure to see the dramatic offset underride guard crash tests conducted by the IIHS below:
