Fires after low speed impacts have been mentioned on a number of occasions on this Gorski Consulting website. Fires are occurring far too frequently. Fires are occurring in minor collisions when they should not. We can only issue this warning. If there is no one that wants to hear or read of the warning there is nothing further we can do.
The latest reported fire erupted on Culver Drive in London, Ontario earlier today. It was reported that a car slid on the downgrade of the icy road surface and “bumped” into the front of a London Transit Commission (LTC) bus. The only reason why it became reported is that a passenger on the bus happened to produce a video. If not for the video this incident would likely not see the light of anyone’s day.
The local news media reported it as non-event because there were no injuries. No one asked any one why the fire started. And no one seemed to care.
The obvious question to any parent: Would you be happy to have your children “safely” buckled into a child seat of this burning vehicle. Would that be a non-event to you? How fast do you think you could get more than one of your children out of the back seat of this vehicle and would it be enough time to save them? Would you feel comfortable with such a science experiment?
The point we have tired to make is that fires after low speed impacts are occurring far too often in recent years. They are occurring when they should not be occurring. They are occurring because no one wants to ask why they are occurring. And the next tragic event when a child is burned alive will rest on the shoulders of all of us who failed to act when we ought to have acted.
Vehicles fires are not inevitable. They are not a required outcome of a crash. They should be preventable except in the most unusual circumstances. If fires occur in a collision they may be caused by a safety related detect that needs to be documented and investigated. Ostriches bury their heads in the sand, reasonable humans should not.