Fifth Gear crashes a Ford Focus at 120 mph

[Ford_News]

Filed under: Safety (http://www.autoblog.com/category/safety/), Videos (http://www.autoblog.com/category/videos/), Hatchback (http://www.autoblog.com/category/hatchbacks/), Ford (http://www.autoblog.com/category/ford/)
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/10/fifth-gear-crash-test.jpg (http://www.mnfords.com/2011/10/20/fifth-gear-crashes-a-ford-focus-at-120-mph/#continued)

For the sake of this post, let's say that your average passenger car can hit a top speed of about 120 miles per hour. Ever wonder what would happen if a run-of-the-mill car - even one that's considered safe by modern passenger-car standards - crashed into an oncoming replica of itself?

The blokes from Fifth Gear (http://autoblog.com/tag/fifth gear) wanted to find out, so they procured an older Ford Focus (http://autoblog.com/ford/focus), which is importantly just the kind of car you're likely to come across on your daily commute, and rammed it into an unmovable object at 120 miles per hour. That's the equivalent of two Focus hatchbacks colliding, both having been traveling at something close to their top speeds.

You probably know what's coming: One very big bang. And you'd be right. But you might be at least a wee bit surprised by the sheer amount of devastation inflicted on the poor Focus. Want to watch? Click past the jump (http://www.mnfords.com/2011/10/20/fifth-gear-crashes-a-ford-focus-at-120-mph/#continued)... unless, as Fifth Gear says, you've got a 'dicky ticker.'Continue reading Fifth Gear crashes a Ford Focus at 120 mph (http://www.autoblog.com/2011/10/20/fifth-gear-crashes-a-ford-focus-at-120-mph/)
Fifth Gear crashes a Ford Focus at 120 mph (http://www.autoblog.com/2011/10/20/fifth-gear-crashes-a-ford-focus-at-120-mph/) originally appeared on Autoblog (http://www.autoblog.com) on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
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[p51mstg]

Wait a minute.... 120mph + 120mph is... ummmm... 240mph. Am I not adding this up right?

A 120 mph crash into a concrete barrier means the closing speed is 120. That would simulate a head-on crash of two vehicles traveling at 60mph each, wouldn't it?

I think their demonstration wasn't so far fetched. I've seen wreckage from highway speed accidents that didn't look as bad as that, but I'd say that's about right for a head-on crash.

One of the more memorable accidents I responded to was a Chevy S10 driver who thought he needed to pass in a 45mph zone. A big motorhome was coming from the opposite direction slowing down to 45. So, maybe they were boith doing about 50 or 55. The motorhome had a chunk taken out of the drivers side front quarter and all passengers were injured in some way, though none serious (I think the driver had a broken leg, that was the worst injury). The S10? You couldn't even tell it was a vehicle, it was mangled so bad.

The S10 just had to pass a car, right through a busy intersection with oncoming traffic. I see that sort of thing almost every day, and am amazed at how many people get away with it. They don't back down when they should know better. That S10 driver bet his life on saving a minute or two, and he didn't fold even when he knew he held a losing hand.