Skip to main content

Impact resistance

A British woman discovered that her sturdy little Toyota Yaris was not quite sturdy enough to cope with an impact from a large boulder. The woman had parked her car by the roadside and returned to find it squashed flat under the weight of the 5tonne lump of rock, which had fallen from a quarry industry vehicle as it drove past.
February 22, 2012 Read time: 1 min
A British woman discovered that her sturdy little Toyota Yaris was not quite sturdy enough to cope with an impact from a large boulder. The woman had parked her car by the roadside and returned to find it squashed flat under the weight of the 5tonne lump of rock, which had fallen from a quarry industry vehicle as it drove past. The boulder was so large that it initially proved too heavy for the truck loader crane brought in to remove it. When she returned from her shopping trip to discover her vehicle had been squashed as easily as a soft drink can by the lump of rock, the woman was comparatively unperturbed by the incident and explained that she has had an eventful life.

Related Content

  • Fast flyover removal with specialist demolition equipment
    July 12, 2012
    An overcrowded Indian flyover was removed in record time using specialist demolition equipment, as Patrick Smith reports Demolition of the landmark Lalbaug flyover south of central Mumbai has been completed and work on a new bigger bridge has started in India's largest city. Although the 38-year-old Sant Dnyaneshwar (Lalbaug flyover) two-lane, one-way traffic artery was serviceable and used by to 15,000 vehicles/hour, there were daily traffic jams and environmental consequences. Despite the complex and dema
  • It’s a deadly business for contractors painting road markings
    August 4, 2015
    Animal welfare groups in the Republic of Ireland are angry over the apparent insensitive act by a road making contractor who painted a yellow line over a dead cat on the side of the highway. A report by Irish newspapers quoted one person saying it was “shameful” and “nobody cared enough to move this poor cat who had been killed by a car and the line was painted over it”.
  • Rebuilding a historic bridge linking the US and Canada
    March 8, 2016
    While many road authorities in North America are finding it difficult to stretch their bridge assets beyond half a century, one bridge is closing in on its centenary - David Arminas reports The international Peace Bridge, connecting the Canadian province of Ontario with the US state of New York, is 88 years young this year, and still going strong.
  • Taxi home
    June 26, 2012
    Three British men have set a world record for the longest taxi journey ever, raising around €25,000 for charity in the process. The three recently returned to the UK capital following a journey of around 69,000km in their 20 year old London black cab, which they nicknamed Hannah. Had the men paid a taxi fare for the trip, it would have cost around €100,000. During the 15 month journey, the men drove across four continents and passed through 50 countries. They also set a record for the world’s highest taxi j