This happened yesterday not far from where I live. The driver appeared to have made an improper turn into traffic and was hit by a BMW 740i head on. Driver was not wearing a seat belt. Please drive safely out there.

 

I would imagine that resulted in a fatality. Even though the BMW driver will not be at-fault for the accident, I am sure he/she feels awful.

Hope I'm wrong about the fatality and also hope nobody else was seriously injured.

It only takes a microsecond to made a bad decision.

 

Yes, sadly the female occupant was killed. PLEASE wear your seatbelts gang. You just never know.

 

Was this in Naples?

 

i live in south FL and see this all the time. its really sad! i hope that person is ok, and you're totally right about the bmw driver if the person in the mini passed away. even when it isnt someones fault when things like this happen they always blame themselves :(

down here where i live you definately have to be careful because people drive like total idiots, they cut you off like nothing, brake for no reason in the middle of the highway, and of course talk on their cell phones and dont pay attention to the road. in areas like mine you have to drive defensively not because of yourself but because of everyone that cant drive around you :(

 

Miami is an interesting place to drive in :impatient

 

ahhh!! its completely awful! i cant wait to move from down here!

 

This is scary. Does this mean we do not have a good chance of survival if we in our MINIs are involved in a head-on collision with a much heavier vehicle? Will wearing the seatbelt really save us in a situation like that?

 

WEAR YOUR SEATBELT. (sorry I shouted) This victim would have certainly survived this crash had she been wearing her seatbelt. Airbags are great but there is no substitute for a belt. To Q-BAN: This occurred in N. Sarasota county near Bradenton line. (Lakewood Ranch)

 

Your seatbelt, alone, won't save you in every situation, no.

But the seatbelt, along with the airbag, along with BMW's engineering of crumple zones and reinforcement of the cockpit will definetely increase your odds of survival.

 

I'd say the seatbelt is >key< and the person likely would have survived. (Of course- I don't know the specifics of this accident, and some accidents you just don't walk away from no matter what.) Not having the belt on- you get thrown around inside the car- hit the windshield- who knows what else.

 

i dont think she would have died had she been wearing her seatbelt. what im trying to understand is why wasnt she? that thing beeps at you repeatedly for like 10 minutes and if you turn up the radio it just gets louder. i agree wtih bob, turning in to traffic without truly evaluating the situation is silly enough as it is but not wearing your seatbelt it dumb. she might have been severly injured if she was wearing it but you know what, she'd still be alive.

 

The Mini out has better front impact results than an F150. But you have to be wearing your seatbelts to survive such a crash. Notice on the picture that the damage to the front of the Mini is not extensive. But, moving bodies tend to stay moving, and thats how you hit the windshield.

 

uzun,

There is a thread around here somewhere (I'd post the link but don't have time to search at the moment) of accidents in R56s. This is the FIRST time I've seen anything posted where the occupant was seriously injured, much less killed. MINIs are the safest (IMHO) small car on the road. Unfortunately for the driver of this car, the simple task of not ignoring that warning and snapping in that seatbelt probably would've made all the difference in the world. WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS!!!!

This pic was posted on a different thread, but I thought it might be fitting here, to illustrate just how safe our little cars are. Nothing, however, can protect a driver from his/her own stupidity.

 

Wow, looks like we all decided to post the same thing at the same time...lol. Hey, at least we're in agreement for the most part!

 

To offer anectodal evidence, 5 friends of mine were travelling in a Mazda when they hit a Ford Expedition head one. Two of my friends riding in the front survived the accident, with severe injuries.

However, the three in the back passed away on the spot. Cause of death for them: broken necks and skulls due to being flung into the seats in front.

Seat belts in conjunction with the other active and passive safety devices in the car WILL save your life.

I am sad to hear about the woman in the Mini, but this should be a warning for everyone of us to use the seat belts.

 

The passenger side windshield is broken as if someone headbutted there. And the blanket is covering the passanger side so I think the passenger had died.

 

With their seat belts on this would have been a bad fender bender. The passanger zone looks intact, the car did it's job. Chalk this up to human error.
Very sad for all envolved.
chuck

 

That blanket might be in place to keep photographers and others from seeing the driver's remains scattered about the interior.

 

I'm amazed (and saddened) that in this day and age there are people who still don't buckle up.

 

This could also be a result of airbag deployment. When my airbags went off in my WRX, it cracked the windshield on both sides (low speed collision, just enough to pop the bags, but slow enough that I didn't touch them. Seat belts are great!)

ALWAYS, ALWAYS wear your seat belt. No situation when you're in a car that you shouldn't. Ever.

 

Sometimes bad things happen! People die in car accidents everyday! Both in big and small vehicles. You can only cheat inertia so much. Also dont forget about good old "fate" Wrong place wrong time.

 

As a kid i never had a seatbelt on. Cant remember if the car even had one. Never used one except spirited driving. Still have problems remembering to use one now that they have become law everywhere.

 

those pics make my heart hurt Somewhere there is a family left devestated by this.

Please buckle and drive safely.

 

It is to bad for the family left behind. Here is the real problem, How much money is spent to make a car "Fool" proof and still some fool wont follow the basic rules of safety! There are bells, lights ,buzzers and so on to make cars safer and someone chose to ignore all of them! I would like my windows to roll up with one touch, But the fool police wont let it happen, This proves you can throw fistfulls of money at a problem But you cant fix stupid!