local man killed in '70 charger powerslide:

[Brock Samson]

  sad,..  showing off with daughter and her friend.. driver's door hit a tree...

  http://www.ktvu.com/video/13685590/index.html

[Shakey]

Pretty sad.   

[PocketThunder]

My friend from college works for Jansport.  Hard to belive he was going fast enough from the intersection to spin around that fast to push the door in several feet.

[Big Lebowski]

I'd recommend putting side air bags in your Charger if you're going to drive it into a tree.

[Drache]

I'd recommend putting side air bags in your Charger if you're going to drive it into a tree.

I'd suggest driving it into some softer such as airbags instead of a tree

[Charger1973]

He really had to be moving to push the door in several feet.  I was hit in my first 73 Charger by a 1977 Cutlass Supreme,  the guy was going 30 mph and never hit the brakes.  I was making a right hand turn into a parking lot and he was behind me headed for the same parking lot but took a "shortcut" across a patch of gravel and hit me at about a 45^o angle.  I had someone in the passenger seat at the time and they werent hurt, hell the window didnt even break (it was rolled up.)  I cant imagine sliding into a tree hard enough to kill yourself unless you were REALLY speeding.  Its a good thing he didnt kill anyone else...

This is a pic of my old car after it was hit.

[hemigeno]

In the early '70s they started adding a horizontal "crash bar" as part of the door construction - but I'm not sure which year that started for certain.  Charger1973, that's a big reason your '73 came away with as little damage as it did in that collision with the Cutlass, besides the fact that it was a glancing blow.  I know the doors on my '69s don't have NEAR as much beef in them as a IIIGen's doors do.

Very sad deal...

[BMOTOXSTAR]

 

[TruckDriver]

Was he a member here or on the '70 Charger registry? Sucks either way. A great guy and a great car gone.

[Neal_J]

I didn't know him but his town is 15 minutes from me here in NorCal and I don't recognize him as a member here.

What a shame.  Man, I sure hope I don't croak doing something stupid....

Neal

[Ponch ®]

What a shame.  Man, I sure hope I don't croak doing something stupid....

Neal

Me neither. I wanna go like my great-grandpa - peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming in horror, like his passengers.

[Chris G.]

Was he a member here or on the '70 Charger registry? Sucks either way. A great guy and a great car gone.

That name is not registered with us.

I feel bad for the family. I wrecked my Charger way worse than he did and walked away without a scratch. I didn't have door impact though.

[Brock Samson]

  Eye witnesses are reporting today he sped up just before losing control...


...another '70 driver hit and an off duty cop going home on his motorcycle... the cop lost his leg,..
another left turn accident...
 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/11/29/BAG8TFVBFA1.DTL&hw=1970+dodge+charger&sn=008&sc=352

  let's just be extra careful out there o.k?..

[PocketThunder]

Got an e-mail back from my freind who works for Jansport and he said it was a purple Charger.  "He died in his purple Charger, beautiful car"

[BMOTOXSTAR]

That sucks. I ride a street bike and that A-hole hit the rider & left. What a crock of shi-.

[Charger1973]

That sucks. I ride a street bike and that A-hole hit the rider & left. What a crock of shi-.

I agree I dont understand people who do that at all.  I saw a hit and run accident last year...  A car blew through a 4 way stop in a residential area and t-boned a car and kept right on going.  It spun the other car around and into the curb.  She had to have been moving because it was extremely loud.  I worked as maintenance at an apartment complex and my boss and I were outside.  We heard the crash and he went running over there to make sure everyone was ok and I called 911.  The driver was fine but the little kid in the car seat in back was crying and had some cuts from the glass.  Once the paramedics showed up we took off to see if we could find the other car.  Didnt take long because there was a trail of antifreeze that lead to a stalled out 300M at a stop light with the hood folded in half.  We let the cops know where she was...  They said it was a teenage girl who had already lost her license for an wrecking her car before and killing someone.  She said she ran because she had stolen her parents car and didnt want to be caught... 

[Charger-Bodie]

really sucks for him and his family...... it might not be the most appropriote thing but id really like to see pics of the car cause im finding it very hard to believe that the door was bent in 3 feet.

[Arthu®]

I am not seeing anything on that link...

[Charger_Fan]

really sucks for him and his family...... it might not be the most appropriote thing but id really like to see pics of the car cause im finding it very hard to believe that the door was bent in 3 feet.

Like this?



That sucks that the crash killed him, I'm just glad the two passengers lived to tell about it.
However, I'd like to see pics of the car too.

[CFMopar]

Could've been alot worse... Could've killed the other two...

[gnrl01]

What a horrible, story! At least not everyone died. 

[BigBlockSam]

 

[JimShine]

I can believe the door went in that far. The middle of the body is the worst area to crumple. Chargers, while beautiful, don't hold up well in crashes.

It is very sad to see. It makes me reconsider rollcages. You never know when something can happen to you.

[hemihead]

I guess when you have done here what God wanted you to do and he calls you home, you don't have a say in it. 

[BigBlockSam]

 

[The70RT]

Amen

[Red Ram]

I guess when you have done here what God wanted you to do and he calls you home, you don't have a say in it. 

So are you saying that God wanted him to do a powerslide in a 70 Charger?

[last426]

I guess when you have done here what God wanted you to do and he calls you home, you don't have a say in it. 

So are you saying that God wanted him to do a powerslide in a 70 Charger?

No, what he is saying is that we should not put side impact protection in cars because "what will be" is all part of a plan.  Shame on you -- God would have no part of your scheme.  It's sort of like pre-destination.  Kim

[69bronzeT5]

I cant get the video to work

[Nacho-RT74]

In the early '70s they started adding a horizontal "crash bar" as part of the door construction

In 1973 but just on driver side as far I remember on my car. Driver side door weights noticeable more than passenger side... sorry was reading another thread and brought me out to this thread

[Dodge Don]

The doors on a 2nd Gen Charger are paper thin. Remarkeably weak when you strip them down and look.

[Highbanked Hauler]

I think 73 was the first year side door bars were mandatory. Anything built before that had very little side protection.

[Mike DC]

   
Cars in general are terrible in side impact crashes. 

There's just no metal structure to crush between the driver and the outside world.  Even if you build cars strong enough not to give inwards at the doors, the hit is still extremely forceful just because there's so little "crumple-zone" slowdown of the impact. 

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NASCAR's new COT chassis cars have a layer of 1/4" thick steel plate covering the ENTIRE driver's side door bar area now.  Doorjamb-to-doorjamb, rocker panel to windowsill. 

And then the car has a thick layer of hi-tech impact foam on the outside of that.   

 

[firefighter3931]

A rollbar could have saved his life.....makes you think 



Ron

[400/6/PAC]

Sad Story.
RIP