If you’ve taken even a cursory glance through our salvage vehicle auctions here at RAW2K, you’ll know that we have a huge range of accident damaged cars for sale. The extent of the damage can vary between each one, depending on what type of accident it was involved in. Now, you might have noticed that some types of damage are more common than others, and that’s largely due to the relative frequency and severity of certain types of collisions on our roads. Here are four of the most common, and the sort of damage they can cause!
Rear end collisions
A rear end collision is basically the term we use to describe what happens when one car drives into the back of another. It’s by far the most common type of car accidents on British roads, with around 420,000 of them having occurred in 2018 alone. Thankfully the majority of them tend to happen at a relatively low speed, so they’re less likely to result in severe injuries or fatalities - although they remain very unpleasant to experience!
They can sometimes be the result of honest misjudgements, or being a bit too twitch on the accelerator at a set of lights. However, they can also be caused by negligence, which is a major factor in some of the more serious instances of rear end collisions. That includes tailgating, distracted driving (such as texting) or overly-aggressive overtakes. To avoid becoming caught up in one yourself, one of the best things to do is ensure that you’re leaving a two second gap at all times between yourself and the vehicle in front.
Head on collisions
Unquestionably one of the most serious types of car accidents, these occur when two vehicles crash directly into one another while travelling at speed. They’re far more dangerous due to the laws of physics involved; unlike instances where one car crashes into a stationary object, in head-on collisions the force of the crash is doubled when both vehicles are travelling at speed towards each other. That means if they’re both travelling at 30mph, the occupants will experience something akin to hitting a solid object at 60mph. You don’t need to be a road safety engineer to see how that kind of thing has a much higher chance of ending up in serious injuries, or even fatalities.
Sideswipes
Sideswipes are slightly less common, and while they might not be as immediately deadly as head-on collisions, they can be dangerous enough due to the fact that they typically occur at high speeds on motorways. Basically, sideswipes are what happens when one car moves sideways into another - generally when one driver isn’t properly checking their blindspot.
For obvious reasons, it can be most common around motorway sliproads, but can also occur when one driver is distracted and weaves out of their lane. A lot of the time, it thankfully results in nothing more than a bit of scratched paintwork, a hearty scare for all involved, and - let’s be honest - almost certainly quite a bit of swearing. But every so often, the collision can involve enough force to send one or both cars careening out of control - and that’s where it can get really dangerous.
T-bone collisions
These are thankfully rarer than the rest, as they’re less likely to happen due to honest misjudgements or oversights - which we’re all guilty of from time to time - and more likely to be the result of deliberately dangerous driving. It’s what happens when the front of one car hits the side of another, forming a T shape (hence the name). It’s generally caused when one car accelerates out in front of traffic, such as at a stop sign or red traffic light. They’re exceptionally dangerous because all of the kinetic energy of one car is going directly into the relatively unprotected side of another, which is less able to handle that kind of impact. It’s one of the main reasons that this type of accident tends to result in more hospital stays, and the damage caused tends to be far more severe. Many cars which have been T-boned end up as Category A or Category B, only good for scrap.
Now, you probably know that cars with Category A or B salvage titles are no good to anyone, as they’ve been too badly damaged to be of any use. Happily, that’s not the case with all vehicles in our online car auctions, as we’ve got plenty of Category N and Category S cars to choose from too. We have cars from a variety of leading manufacturers, including Ford, Renault and Vauxhall - so whether you’re looking for your next personal vehicle, or you’re looking for something to fix up and sell on, we’re sure to have what you’re looking for. Why not take a look around, and see what you can find?
