The Leaf is a safe car

[nlspace]

And smart too.

i was rear ended tonight while slowing for a red light at a major intersection (2 turn lanes+3 straight), couple of young guys in a chevy sedan ran into me; it lifted the rear end and pushed me toward a police car in the next lane. i somehow had the presence of mind to steer back to the left to avoid a 3-car event. None of my airbags deployed and the seat belt and headrest did their job. i walked away without a scratch or a bruise, the dudes took an ambulance ride--airbag injured the driver and the passenger's head put a dent in the windshield

The left rear wheel has a chunk missing and the rear bumper is totally smashed and cracked and the trunk lid is bent under at the bottom edge, but the rear tail lights and the rear glass didn't even break. There is alot of steel structure under there and it appears nothing moved forward into the pack.

i tried to start it to move out of traffic, which it did but wouldn't let me go to D, only N, which is really smart and convenient for getting it loaded on the tow truck. Even though the airbags didn't fire it must know that an accident has occurred and won't allow drive mode.

The car was in perfect condition for a 2012 with 56k miles and a 7-bar pack that could still do 50-60 miles on a full charge--seems such a shame. i'm guessing that repairs would likely exceed the value of whatever these cars are worth. As an EV it was of a great value to me, comfy to drive, and safe too.

 

[knightmb]

Yeah, I think people don't realize that to hold the battery weight, the frame has to be stronger than normal compared to a ICE, thought things may have changed since 2012. It's a shame your ride got totaled, but the value of it is still good for after-market reasons. The battery pack, if undamaged, can be recycled down to other things (solar, motor-cycle, etc.) so don't let the insurance company low-ball you on the replacement value of the Leaf. Being the way used car prices are, getting a replacement, even a used one of a slightly better model year is going to be tough unless you have a more flexible budget to work with. I've seen many accident pictures here locally where I live of Leaf owners and over the past 8 years, no major injuries to the Leaf driver, but I've seen more than my share of flipped trucks and SUVs that hit the Leaf and make some major injury to those drivers. :shock:

And smart too.

i was rear ended tonight while slowing for a red light at a major intersection (2 turn lanes+3 straight), couple of young guys in a chevy sedan ran into me; it lifted the rear end and pushed me toward a police car in the next lane. i somehow had the presence of mind to steer back to the left to avoid a 3-car event. None of my airbags deployed and the seat belt and headrest did their job. i walked away without a scratch or a bruise, the dudes took an ambulance ride--airbag injured the driver and the passenger's head put a dent in the windshield

The left rear wheel has a chunk missing and the rear bumper is totally smashed and cracked and the trunk lid is bent under at the bottom edge, but the rear tail lights and the rear glass didn't even break. There is alot of steel structure under there and it appears nothing moved forward into the pack.

i tried to start it to move out of traffic, which it did but wouldn't let me go to D, only N, which is really smart and convenient for getting it loaded on the tow truck. Even though the airbags didn't fire it must know that an accident has occurred and won't allow drive mode.

The car was in perfect condition for a 2012 with 56k miles and a 7-bar pack that could still do 50-60 miles on a full charge--seems such a shame. i'm guessing that repairs would likely exceed the value of whatever these cars are worth. As an EV it was of a great value to me, comfy to drive, and safe too.

 

[Flyct]

First I’m glad you didn’t have injuries.

I was very impressed with how our 2019 Leaf prevented severe injury when we were T-boned on the passenger side last year.

The side airbags saved my wife from serious injury. She sustained multiple bruises from seat belts and side airbags. I got a big knot on the left top side my head when I hit the roof pillar on rebound. I’m on a blood thinner and was concerned about a brain bleed. We both were transported to the hospital and released 2 hours later.

Since the at fault driver who hit us was uninsured our company, State Farm, handled everything with collision and uninsured driver coverages. The 2019 SL+ was totaled with over $26,000 in damages We were reimbursed enough to buy a new 2020 SL+ and with the $7500 tax credit we actually came out ahead. After seeing how well the Leaf handled the crash we didn’t hesitate to buy another.

You don’t realize how important crash safety is until you need it. Thank you Ralph Nader.

 

[jlv]

Glad to hear you are fine, nlspace!

But I'm sad for your LEAF... from your description of the damage, it is almost certainly going to be totaled.

(I was in a similar accident 20 years ago that totaled my Honda Accord Wagon that had 120K miles... and was running perfectly. I had visions of taking that car over 200K, but for that terrible driver who hit me)

 

[goldbrick]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune but glad to hear you are unharmed. Getting rear ended can be quite a nasty event but is sounds like you escaped any serious consequence.