Results of being rear-ended at 20mph...

[SD43]

Someone drove into the back of us on the M4, while we were thankfully in traffic so was about 20mph. Still gave us a good jolt and a scare. The offending Ford Focus came out a lot worse than us:

Although annoying, I was pleasantly surpirised at how little damage there was.

 

[salty]

Someone drove into the back of us on the M4, while we were thankfully in traffic so was about 20mph. Still gave us a good jolt and a scare. The offending Ford Focus came out a lot worse than us:

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View attachment 31923

Although annoying, I was pleasantly surpirised at how little damage there was.

Sorry to here about your little bump. 20 mph is still a fair whack. As you say, hardly any damage at all. Must be a well built car then.

 

[Tig170]

Cracking result - Wasn't expacting this outcome from the MG4, you may be better discussing privately with the offending Ford Focus / their insurance company, as as soon as you claim (even on their insurance), then your premium will go up.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Not a chance!
2 mph maybe.
20 mph would result in considerable damage.

 

[Ian Key]

Not a chance!
2 mph maybe.
20 mph would result in considerable damage.

There is a slight difference between being hit by a Focus with a front end crumple zone designed to protect pedestrians and a red sled with a solid yellow bumper.

 

[wattmatters]

I would suggest an experienced eye take a look. I once had a small shunt from behind and I did not think much damage had occurred and it wasn't until the specialist showed me the actual extent of the damage that it became apparent it was a lot worse than I thought.

 

[Vaasref]

I concur with my neighbor up.

Modern cars can have crash structures that once compacted doesn't offer any protection anymore. I have seen stories of people who got rear-ended, seemingly without any damage, that got grave injuries usually cervical, on a second one because the structure was already compacted.

I don't know how the MG4 does its rear collision protection, but on some car it can be blocks of expanded polystyrene, you would think not offering much protection, but still enough to make a rear collision safe while without it would get you hurt. But like for a helmet, it's one use only.

 

[T1 Terry]

I am about to take delivery of a repairable write off MG4 with not a lot more damage than that to show for it ..... all the under bumper crumple zone tells a different story however.
Get it inspected by a reputable crash repairer and see if it might be a lot worse than it looks

T1 Terry

 

[JonnyG]

As above looks to be a good result for you externally but well worth gettting it checked out behind the plastic bumper for fixing mounts etc.

 

[Lovemyev]

About 8 weeks ago a close relative had a Ford Transit van, hit them VERY hard while they where completely stationary waiting in traffic and this was in a 20 mph area.
The car was a 2 year old ZS EV facelift model and had only covered 10,000 miles from new.
It did not fare as well as your car that's for sure !.
The car was damaged both front and back and was declared a total loss by the insurance company.
As a result of the level of damage sustained at a very slow speed, he is now driving a Volvo EV.

 

[Montego]

Have to agree with advice given above. Just because the bumper is hardly damaged does not mean that there is no damage to the underneath. Worth getting it checked out.
Many years ago I was rear ended at low speed. Thought there was no damage, but over the next few days the bumper paintwork flaked off so I had to get underneath checked. All OK but bumper had deformed and then sprung back and had cracks so had to be replaced.

 

[Guru]

There is a slight difference between being hit by a Focus with a front end crumple zone designed to protect pedestrians and a red sled with a solid yellow bumper.

There is a difference however there is no way that's a 20mph hit. Maybe the other driver was doing 20mph when he hit the brakes but that looks like 5 - 10mph at most.

 

[Kithmo]

Plastic bumpers flex and sometimes bounce back, the metalwork underneath doesn't.
What does it look like under the floorboard ?

 

[ReintjeWA]

About 8 weeks ago a close relative had a Ford Transit van, hit them VERY hard while they where completely stationary waiting in traffic and this was in a 20 Mph area.
The car was a 2 year old ZS EV facelift model and had only covered 10,000 miles from new.
It did not fair as well as your car thats for sure !.
The car was damaged both front and back and was declared a total loss by the insurance company.
As a result of the level of damage sustained at a very slow speed, he is now driving a Volvo EV.

View attachment 31964

To be fair, that Volvo will probably be just as damaged or more in the same crash, that's how a modern car keeps you safe. I don't think "amount of damage" is a good indication of whether a car did "well" in a crash.

To be clear, I'm not at all suggesting that Volvo won't be safer, I 100% believe it will be.

 

[Rolfe]

There's a thread somewhere entitled "My MG4 saved my life" or something like that. The car was rear-ended by something going pretty damn fast, and the owner and his wife had to be cut out of the wreckage by these "jaws of life" things. He was knocked out and stretchered to hospital. In the end they were both "walking wounded" - bruised and sore, but no broken bones and no permanent injuries. That's what an intact undamaged crumple zone will do for you.

 

[Alb]

That's what an intact undamaged crumple zone will do for you.

Just for clarity, I think what you mean is the passenger sits inside a strong safety cage surrounded by weaker crumple zones. It's the safety cage that remains undamaged while the crumple zones are very much damaged as they absorb impact energy.

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, what I was meaning was that the crumple zones were undamaged before the crash. The question is whether a relatively minor crash could impair future functionality.

 

[stevegus]

The bumper may have sprung back to shape and the metal underneath could be damaged

 

[davz]

Not a chance!
2 mph maybe.
20 mph would result in considerable damage.

I agree there is no way that was 20 mph, there even isn’t any scuff marks to the paintwork, I had a rear bumper repainted due to someone backing into my car at parking speed.

 

[ReintjeWA]

I agree there is no way that was 20 mph, there even isn’t any scuff marks to the paintwork, I had a rear bumper repainted due to someone backing into my car at parking speed.

Clearly they must’ve been parking at 20mph+