Vehicle safety systems have come a long way in the past few years, but when people drive like idiots, there's very little engineers can do, as evidenced by this C7 Chevrolet Corvette, which lost its entire engine in a horrific highway crash. According to witnesses, the driver of the Corvette was racing at high speed when the crash occurred. According to OnScene TV, the collision, which took place in San Bernardino, California, on Saturday night, left the Corvette in pieces, with its entire engine assembly left strewn across the highway. We've seen cars lose their oily bits in serious crashes before, and the reason is usually simple: speeding.
Witnesses at the scene told reporters that the Corvette driver was racing another Corvette before the accident - which damaged two other cars - took place. The driver of the C7 Corvette was able to walk away from the accident with only minor injuries, which is hard to believe once you take a look at the video footage from the scene. The video shows the car completely ripped apart, with the monocoque visible and the engine sitting a few feet away from the vehicle, completely separated from the car. The San Bernardino California Highway Patrol division told Road & Track that the driver of the crashed Corvette was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and confirmed that no other injuries were reported.
The Chevrolet C7 Corvette is a serious sports car with 455 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque being sent to the rear wheels via a seven-speed manual transmission. The base C7 can reach 60 mph in the low four-second range and top out at nearly 190 mph. The NHTSA did not test the C7 Coupe and convertible, but its aluminum spaceframe with carbon-nano-composite underbody panels has been proven to withstand severe damage in case of an accident. Unlike the new C8 Corvette, the C7 does without fancy driver assistance features and relies only on traction and stability control, as well as big brakes to keep things in check. This accident again shows that racing belongs on the track and not on public roads. Alcohol, on the other hand, should be kept away from cars altogether.
