Hi all!

I recently got rear ended in a mcdonalds drive through of all places! The driver behind me went for the order point but obviously didn't stop, I have no idea how fast he got up to, I can only imagine he accelerated instead of braking because the impact was surprisingly big. The damage looked minimal from the outside. We had a new bumper fitted last year and from the impact there were a couple of scratches and when you opened the boot you could see a small crack on the top of the bumper alongside what looked like stress lines where the bumper had bent inwards.  According to the engineers report the rear crossmember was bent and it required a replacement as well as a replacement rear bumper. 

The impact shunted us forward about 1ft, no one was hurt except me because I was looking at my 6yr old in the back at the time so strange neck movement has hurt my right trap and neck. I just can't quantify the speed he must have reached to shunt us forward and bend our crossmember. I was shocked by the report and how long we're having to do without our car because the insurers badged it as undriveable  on the basis that a similar collision before repair would result in greater damage.

 

Does anyone have any idea how much of an impact a crossmember can take before it bends? Surely it could handle say 7/8mph in such a situation or is it designed to bend with any form of impact? I'm trying to work out in my mind whether the speed must have been higher but google doesn't know lol!

If its hit in just the right place its surprising how easy things fold up and yes its designed to absorb the impact, Hope you get back on the road soon and glad everyone is ok