[ACCIDENT] Owner Praises the Safety Protections of the C8 Corvette After Crashing Into an SUV

By
Mitch Talley
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7
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[ACCIDENT] Owner Praises the Safety Protections of the C8 Corvette After Crashing Into A SUV


“Wow!”

That was the response from Carlton Phillips after becoming one of the very few people in the world to experience a serious C8 crash so far.

“We all survived because The C8 took one for the team and sacrificed itself for all of us on that night,” Phillips wrote in a post-crash post on Facebook’s C8- The Chevy Under Glass.

His Zeus Bronze 2020 Stingray, according to Phillips, orchestrated every maneuver he used to try and avoid the impending collision with a full-size SUV. “With only the choice of a pole or t-boning another vehicle,” he says, “I chose the car.”

[ACCIDENT] Owner Praises the Safety Protections of the C8 Corvette After Crashing Into A SUV


In a split second, he theorized that if he could hit the right front wheel of the other vehicle and hold his line, both vehicles would end up facing the same direction, a decision that ultimately worked.

“The impact felt as if I had casually bumped a curb in a full-size SUV, and I’ve been in a more violent impact in bumper cars at an amusement park,” Phillips quipped.

Despite three airbags deploying from the impact, Phillips says there was no loud bang of crumbling metal or the violent jolting force of intrusion into the cockpit.

“All I could say was Wow! That wasn’t that bad,” he said.

[ACCIDENT] Owner Praises the Safety Protections of the C8 Corvette After Crashing Into A SUV


Phillips says he came away from the accident with an appreciation for “the most critical hidden aspect of the technology and engineering designed and buried underneath the wonderful lines of its beautiful outer skin.”

In fact, he says he would give the structural design and engineering team at GM a 15 on a 10-point scale and the car a 10-star crash rating on a 5-star scale for its crashworthiness.

“The car had transferred the entire force of the impact diagonally across the front end of the car, shut itself off, and turned on the emergency flashers for me,” Phillips points out. “This was critical as we were in the middle of a soon to be busy and darkening intersection.”

[ACCIDENT] Owner Praises the Safety Protections of the C8 Corvette After Crashing Into A SUV


Phillips also expressed his “utmost respect” for the staff and assembly line workers “who build our cars at Bowling Green Facility ensuring the hidden quality of these magnificent machines.” He even threw in a plug for the “wonderful staff” at the National Corvette Museum for their efforts preparing his car for delivery.

EMS verified the crash caused no serious injuries, prompting Phillips and his passenger to talk about how well the Corvette channeled and dissipated the force of the impact away from them and absorbed the transfer of the Stingray’s kinetic energy to the other vehicle.


Phillips concluded that he might need some assistance “in which direction to go or where to send the car” because his new mid-engine Corvette will definitely be put back together.

“I had a lot of fun with my C8,” he says, “and it saved all of our lives. If I had to be in a C8 crash again, I’d do it without a second thought.”

[ACCIDENT] Owner Praises the Safety Protections of the C8 Corvette After Crashing Into A SUV


Source:
Carlton Phillips / Facebook

Related:
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[ACCIDENT] Puget Sound Firefighters Called to Extinguish a C3 Corvette on Fire
[ACCIDENT] Home Surveillance Video Captures the Moment the Brakes Failed on a 1966 Corvette

 



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7 COMMENTS

  3. Mike if you are having second thoughts why don’t you try and rent one for a couple of days and be sure you really like it

  5. Joe, from a current owner of a C8 , you can easily see out the rear and sides of the C8. the Rear view mirror on the 2 and 3LT options include the Camera view which is extremely good at showing what is behind and near the sides of the car. Its view can be adjusted for wide angle. this is not the backup camera which the C8 also has. Side mirrors are as good as any car. It also has the blind spot warnings on the side mirrors. In the front, it has 2 cameras for looking at curbs, so you don’t tear up the front splitter. It also has, with the Z51 option, a 4K color performance camera that has data overlay and recording, and also can be setup for a dashcam. No problem to see what’s around the car.
    We have had one recall on the Frunk fob deal. it was done at home in our garage, by our home WiFi network, over the air and it installed perfectly. We have 3600 miles on the car and it is Perfect.

  6. thanks bob… some car mag was having an issue with nacelles and other things blocking vision. glad to hear another opinion.

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