Poor 68

[moparstuart]

http://www.koin.com/news/crashes/dodge-park-boulevard-crash-gresham-june-5-2018/1220496324

[Charger-Bodie]

Dang.

[chargervert]

I  remember a few years ago, when my friend Rick was T boned like that in his 73 Road Runner, I started a thread on Moparts about the total lack of side impact protection in our cars. I am sure that some of you may remember a thread posted by Dodge Charger.com member elanmars, about the crash he barely survived after same thing happened to him. If anyone had been in the passengers seat of either one of these cars,they would have been closed casket dead for sure! My friends Road Runner, you could stand where the passengers seat used to be!  No one loves these cars more than I do,but we have to keep in mind that these cars we designed during the infantcy of automotive industry safety standards, and perform as such in the event of a crash. The uni body failed to protect the occupants in this crash. The rockers are nothing more than stamped sheet metal, with no frame rails behind them. The lack of a full B pillar left them with only a sheet metal door, latched to a sheet metal rear quarter panel to protect them. Even the B body cars with the full B pillars are nothing more than a tacked piece of sheet metal that offers no real structual strength.   To be really safe in these cars, they need a roll cage and beefed up rockers. I know not everyone will agree with me on this, but this is another example of the facts. I am building a Daytona with a full Nascar chassis and roll cage, and I will feel a whole lot safer when it hits the street.  I am considering putting a cage in my 73 Charger that I drive daily too. Be safe out there driving your Mopars, and take extra time before you pull out in front of someone, wether the person who is behind you likes it or not!  I hope that those two guys only saw a flash of light and they are still cruising in that Charger on the other side!

[67440chrg]

What a shame. 1st the lives lost but a shame about the car as well.

[RECHRGD]

Looks like the Charger driver was doing a bit of showing off from the stop sign and got sideways in front of the van.  Very sobering pictures.  Be careful out there guys......

[moparstuart]

Looks like the Charger driver was doing a bit of showing off from the stop sign and got sideways in front of the van.  Very sobering pictures.  Be careful out there guys......

thats what i was thinking to  , got squirrely went sideways over in the next lane right in front of the van  . Must have been going a a pretty high rate of speed too.  
  How did the back glass not shatter   

[68pplcharger]

Yeah a shame all the way around.

[JR]

That's tragic, I'm sorry to see that.

As bad as I hate to say it, that likely would have been survivable in a modern car. Personally, I consider our 50 year old classics only marginally safer than a motorcycle.

R.I.P.

[CDN72SE]

Ironic that the street name is Dodge Park Blvd.

[keith88]

I saw this this on facebook they said the car was heard doing a burn out right before the wreck ..it was by a school but no teenagers were involved.

[Birdflu]

Terrible to see....God speed...

[RECHRGD]

I don't remember seeing this car.  Do any of our other NW members know of it?

[Mike DC]

    
That accident really stacked the deck against the '68.  

That van doesn't look menacing but it probably weighs 1.5-2x as much, depending on the cargo.  The Charger went right into the metal bumper attached to the van's ladder frame.  It hit the Charger in the door - the heaviest parts of the Charger are at the ends and there is no inner door beam.  The Charger is also a hardtop without a B-pillar, which means it might as well be a convertible when it comes to that kind of hit.  But it lacks the super-thick reinforced outer rockers of a convertible.    

[chargervert]

Having replaced the convertible rocker reinforcement myself, it is just a stamped metal channel that is the same guage as the framerail.  It's not what I would call super thick! 

[smithenhiven]

Sad to see a Charger lost, ever more sad to know there were casualties.  RIP.

[XS29L9B2]

it s a bad new

[Kern Dog]

it s a bad new

?
We should be more upset about the loss of life than we are about the car.   

[8WHEELER]

It was Arden Olsen from Gresham. From what I hear he left a stop sign doing a burnout, got loose and crossed in front of van. He and a passenger passed. Very sad all around.

[8WHEELER]

The other side.

[RECHRGD]

Thanks Dan!  Did you know him?  Was he a member here?

[8WHEELER]

Hi Bob, Know a friend of mine knew him, its a small would, the Mopar circle's are tight.

Dan

[moparstuart]

The other side.

still amazed that back glass is intact 

[bull]

I didn't know the owner but then I don't spend much time at the shows and I'm not a club member. Very sad no matter how you look at it.

I've been out with my Charger in that area a couple dozen times and I know which stop sign he started his burnout from. It had to be the opposite side of the intersection from where I took this. There's a fire station within 100 yards of where it happened. In fact the old fire station is in the background of this pic. The new one is on the other side of the road.

[Fred]

Could have been so easily prevented.........so tragic.

[Mike DC]

                        
It just reminds you what can happen no matter how lovingly we restore every inch of these cars.  A lot of people have gotten killed in them over the years.  

If that '68 and the van were heading towards each other then it would rack up a very high impact speed.  Neither one even had to be going very fast on its own.