There are two things that cause accidents. 1. Your stupidity.. 2. Someone else's stupidity. You can do something about #1, you can only watch out for #2. Vader is indeed correct. Being able to AVOID the accident is the key. A good running, properly maintained vehicle is you BEST insurance policy. I have had the opportunity to test this theory more times than I care to count. Sometimes it absolutely amazes me some of the people they will give a drivers license to...... Far too many people see driving as a RIGHT, instead of the priveledge that it truly is. This is the main reason you will never see autobohns in the US, we simply do not have the discipline for it. (a general statement, not a blanket statement....)

i walked away with 2 stitches in my finger, my buddy got 3 in his thumb or something..

oh ya, i flipped of a dirt bank thinking i could take corners like an import or something.

I saw a accddent a few years back were a camaro was broken into 2 pices the front end was compleatly off the car and the people were still standing i was shocked so i think they do hold up well.

talk about back from the dead. 4 year old post...

I bet someone actualy used the search button for once to find this post lol.

No car takes being t boned very well. I always look left and right before crossing an intersection even when I have a green light. Only 3 days ago, some one who wasn't paying attention in a big heavy suv ran a light right in front of me. If I had not looked left first, she whould have t boned me. This has happened more times than I care to mention. Gives me chills just thinking about what could have happened.

Compared to most cars of it's time, a third gen isn't too bad. The father in law ooosted to do hwy patrol and would often be the first one on a crash site. He thinks 3rd gens hold up fairly well. He isn't to fond of the way school busses fair in a crash tho. Lucky enough for them, most of their drivers are above average.

think i need to bookmark this post though. I normally keep a gap between the cars infront of me, and try to leave room beside me incase I need to swerve over... but lately in my stupidity have been a bit more "lax" on doing so... reading all of this has me better motivated to drive like I should.

Possible sticky?

For what it's worth, i've been doing this firefighter gig for over 26 years, I teach emergency vehicle operating class, and I used to have an SCCA regional competition license. During all of this time, I can never recall a fatal accident in a camaro or (mustang), in fact, I don't ever recall cutting someone out of a camaro. I went to a wreck once where this lady in a 3rd gen firebired ran into the back of some car (it's been awhile), the bird sort of scooped the other car up onto it's ( the bird) roof, the car then rotated 180 degrees and went down the back of the bird facing the opposite direction. No one was injured.
Now, you want to talk about rycers, I've seen some unreal wrecks in those, the worst was when a mitsu 3000 went off of an interstate ramp and took a tree in the side of the driver's compartment, the car was cut in 1/2 and both occupants were ejected fatally. I've seen numerous rycer front drivers that have been cut in 1/2, I can't even remember, once the other vehicle, a Dodge mini van, was able to drive off.
One other thing, that air bag stuff IMO, is BS. If you have a minor impact, and it goes off, it can total the car from the damage. If your fingers are around the wheel, they break your thumbs, if you get hit in the side and suffer a head injury, the bag doesn't go off until you hit some thing else in front. So, let's say you have a cervical injury from the first hit, then you get hit in the face by Joe Frazier when the bag goes off on the second....welcome to your wheelchair. I've seen them deploy and just peel the skin off of elderly people's arms. Air bags will never be better than a good seatbelt and/or safety harness.
SUV's are great, until you hit another SUV.

Kinda an odd post to bring back after four years. One of the posters from four years ago in this thread died in his GTA.

Kinda a real reminder to pay attention.

Sorry to sound incensitive... but whom was it?

GTA-Paladin

it was sad news indeed. Everyone wants to believe the cause of a bad and possibly fatal accident will be someone else.

IIRC Paladin lost control going pretty fast with some buddies in the car late at night and hit a wall. Im not sure if all of them were killed, I think maybe they were.

http://thirdgen.org/techbb2/showthre...hreadid=135047

my KITT is very safe

wow. I never would have searched this topic, nor expected so many replies. I like to swap to the later, heavier doors for more side-impact protection. I'm not sure what the difference is, just an assumption. Still, it's cheap to do. I have a pair of '91 doors on my '82 Camaro right now. First thing I did to it.

I personally rolled my old 92rs and walked away(I was wearing my seatbelt). I feel very safe driving a thirdgens.

Here's a third gen exclusive site for accident victims:
http://iroc-z.com/wreckedirocs/wreckedirocs.htm

Here's a sample

I lived through a 75mph crash into a guard rail....it was ugly, but I did it in a 1991 Camaro RS....I walked away from it by the way.

i had an 87 z28 ttop with racing seat and 4 point belts i got ran off the road by a lady in a mini van talking on her cell phone went down a 20 foot enbankment and rolled the car 4 times into a few trees.. besides haveing cuts and scrapes from the glass breaking (if u have ever been in a ttop car u know ur surrounded by glass at pretty much every angle) i walked away.. after they cut me outta the car that is.. the cops thought i was dead and he actually watched the lady come into my lane and watched me go over the enbankment he called it in and came to help me, he witnessed me rolling over the 4 times and into the trees.. he thought i was dead.. if it wasnt for the sparco belts and seats i probably would have been.. and for that reason is why i now have racing seat and 4 point belts in my current camaro.. actually the same belts.. and i will never get rid of them.. they saved my life.. as for the lady in the mini van she got out of jail last year from her 3 year sentence.

1989 RS

The last time I was in the junk yard I saw an 87' camaro that had been rolled. It was quite a scary sight. The t-bar was really twisted and the passenger A pillar was pushed into the dash, I hope the occupants were alright.

I still think a hard top would be safer in the event of a crash

Scary video I saw of a Firebird crashing:

http://www.streetfire.net/video/100-...sh_2051646.htm

Apparently the kid survived... if a crash like that doesn't break you into little pieces, I'd say the car is a pretty safe design.

agreed

thats why you should never press turboboost

The greatest problem I see with the safety of third gen's, or any older car, is rust. Rusty cars don't have the strength that was designed into them, and the collapse zones and crush zones are all compromised. You don't know what a rusty car will do in an accident but I bet it won't do what it was designed to do.

Most of the time in f bodies, the drivers walk away with minor injuries, but the cars themselves are trashed. alot of **** you hear about ppl dying an such is media related. you never hear about all the one that walk away etc.

on another note f bodies are also good at AVOIDING crashes with a knowlegable(sp) driver. most have the handling an acceleration to deliver you into and out of accidents.

SUV usualy win on most cars except older volvos 240gl and such. f cars are safe enough, but theres no telling what happens, look at all the saftey features in nascar (safer than almost every new car on the market), and dale still died. now they all wear hans device. same with indies and break away cockpits. The bottom line is...your awarness and judgement is more important.

effin justice finally...good to hear your well and she paid

Yea the kid did live, that happened about 10 minutes from where I live... it was all over the news...crazy ****!!

I didn't take the time to read every post but I do know camaros hold up pretty well I was in two accidents one with each camaro I own and one I was t boned by a grand pdddrix I walked away so did my friendand his 3 year old son everyone was fine I drove my car away and the grand prix was totalledthe second one was more of a head on crash with an 07 honda civic again his car was totalled I drove away with nothin but a cut up hand from punching my steering wheel after I was hit I drove away from that one too while he waited for a tow truck... but I will say right now big trucks are way safer thab our third gens I was in my 03 sierra that was lifted 6 inches with 35 inch mud tires and a guy running from the police ran a red light doin about 90 mph "that's what the police estimated" he hit the front passenger side of my truck from witness accounts my truck did a 720 on two wheels the driver of the other car was driving a caprice and he died in the crash I walked away with sore wrists and a banged up knee but ill tell you right now if I was driving my camaro that night I would not have survived so big trucks will always have a place with me and I will continue to use them as my daily driver

yamban - those pics are some scarey sh^t! - that looks like gameover for the front and rear right passenger!

I love thirdgens but you want today's tech. for safety - properly engineered crumple zones, plethora of airbags (wheel, doors, seats etc.) and shell designs which transmit the energy over and around the passenger cabin

We have EURO NCAP crash scores over here and I'm sure you guys have a similar independent body which assesses how cars hold up in various types of standardised tests - really has become quite renowned and another selling point and thus something manufacturers spend alot of resources on.

I'd have to say for safety you want a reasonably sized newish vehicle (2000-onwards) vehicle with a decent independant official body safety rating.