Yesterday I saw a single vehicle accident on the interstate on my way to work, and stopped to render aid. It was on the off ramp from I-275N to Kennedy Bv, on the Tampa side of the Howard Frankland Bridge. And it's an example that sometimes everything just works right.
A guy in a Ford Explorer Sport-Track was distracted for just a second and crashed, but everything went right. There's an energy absorbing barrier at the end of the median barrier, and a street light pole at the point of the median where the off ramp diverges from the highway. The truck went right between them, and hit both. The energy absorbing barrier deformed and absorbed energy, just like it's supposed to. The light pole sheared off cleanly, just like it's supposed to. Between the two of them, they absorbed enough energy that the impact didn't even set off the air bags. The barrier went under the truck and sheared off the right front wheel. I think the impact with the light pole may have kept the truck from flipping over. The right front tire went across the median, and the barrier kept it from going out onto the highway, just like it's supposed to.
Because everything worked as it should, the driver walked away without a scratch.
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