Thursday, May 31, 2012

Volt Virtually Demolished but Did Not Catch Fire

Published May 31, 2012


By Huw Evans



MangledVolt

Photo credit: Lincoln County News/Michael Johnson


In Geneseo, NY earlier this month, a parked Chevy Volt was virtually destroyed after being hit by a speeding Toyota Camry. The impact was so severe that it crushed the Volt’s roof and much of the body structure.



The Camry, driven by 22-year-old Maura Duff, failed to stop at a nearby intersection and was going fast enough that it pushed the Volt 25 feet before coming to rest on its roof. The accident also damaged another adjacent vehicle, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, along with part of the garage it was parked near to.



Witnesses at the scene said the Camry’s engine caught fire after impact, though despite being completely mangled, there was no report of leakage or fire from the Volt.



According to Livingston County News, a policeman, Sherman Yates, and a trained EMT Cate Concannon, who were nearby neighbors and first on the scene following the accident, probably helped save Duff’s life. Once the fire was extinguished she was cut out of the car and taken to a nearby hospital with non life-threatening injuries.



Although it’s nigh impossible to gauge based on a single accident, it appears that despite the brutal impact and widespread wreckage (some of it was found 150 feet away from the crash site), the Chevy Volt is far from a rolling barbeque as portrayed by some sources following the wake of NHTSA crash test investigations.



Johnson said that in the 38 years of living in the same house, he’s seen vehicles end up on his lawn seven or eight times. Regarding his destroyed Volt, he said the car is easily replaceable but at the end of the day “human life is more important than material things.”



Lincoln County News via Green Car Reports






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