I am writing a book but I need some help.... I need two of my characters to get in a car crash but only the driver gets hurt. here are some details: I need the driver (an adult) to get hurt and lose a lot of blood but they don't die. I need the passenger (age 16) to only get a few scrapes. It needs to be quick. I was thinking of having the car get hit on the drivers side....but how can I do that... If you have ANY ideas then PLEASE tell me.
Have your character's vehicle crash into another car, tree or building. The driver's hand is on top of the steering wheel, his Rolex watch acts like a hammer when propelled by the air bag, smashing into his face, breaking his nose, smashing his teeth and knocking him unconscious. His passenger is saved by the air bag and walks away. Or any number of scenarios. let me know if I can help, I do this for a living. www.rescuing-providence.blogspot.com
Have him drive into another vehicle like a van carrying wood or metal and have one of these projectiles skewer him but otherwise leave the passenger OK. Momentary lapse in concentration, distracted by an argument or bird in the sky, or flowers laid in memory of another accident. Or have a 30-40 mile an hour smash where the driver is not wearing his belt and the passenger is, that should cause him plenty of trauma, maybe going through the windscreen/shield and the passenger remaining fine. Airbags might mess up this theory but only for cars that have them. Old ones don't.
Unlike the passenger, your driver isn't wearing his seat belt. His injuries will likely be worse than the passenger's in even a minor crash. Another possibility - an object falls or is thrown from an overpass, or from a car or truck in front of the car, and shatters the windshield on the driver's side. In Massachusetts, police are ticketing drivers who don't clear snow and ice from the tops of their vehicles because of the number of accidents of this type.
Perhaps the driver and passenger are having an arguement, or the driver's mind is on something else and the car runs through a red traffic light and another car spears the driver's side. I suppose the most likely crash would be the result of another motorist hitting them. Maybe the road is suddenly icy or oily and the car loses its grip on the road, sliding so that it impacts sideways against a tree/wall/building.
Well, there are lots of things you would do. I only have first hand experience with being hit from behind. Drivers can be thrown from the car, lose quite a lot of blood and not die. I was a teenager when I got into a pretty bad car crash - if that helps. I was on the passenger's side and only walked away with a few scrapes. There was no airbag on my side, and a car collided with us from behind on the highway going full speed. There was a large pick up truck directly in front of us so there was only the trailer-hitch to crash into. I'm not sure what gender or how small your 16-year-old is, but I curled into a ball around my seatbelt. My legs hit the dash but nothing else, i.e. I walked off, but not for terribly long. It actually took a while for the bruises to form and for me to fall down. I do know someone who got into a terrible driver's side collision. What you have to worry about there is the driver and passenger smacking into eachother. The two someone's in the crash cracked their heads together and were both taken by helicopter to the ER. Fun stuff.
If your accident takes place at an intersection, the driver could be distracted because he/she is talking on the phone, and runs a red light or something like that. They go straight across at a relatively slow speed, and the person whos turn it is to go doesn't notice until it's too late. No one would be goin really fast, but fast enough that a hit to the drivers door would seriously hurt the driver. I'm not sure I explained it very well... please tell me if you need clarification.
a friend of mine got in a wreck that could work for you (but she didn't die) they were driving a 1998 mercury tracer one night, on the highway going about 75. it was raining and she hit a puddle and started to hydroplane. The car pulled a 180 and hit the guardrail with the driverside rear quarterpanel, smashing the entire rear end and rear door. Her head was smashed against her door window, which knocked her out, bleeding profusely from the head. her passenger (her husband) was perfectly fine (except the shock of thinking she was dead). other than having to get some stitches for her head and a mild concussion, they were both fine.. the car itself was trashed. But it could have easily put the driver into a coma, broken her neck... braindamage, so on.
The driver could lose control while speeding and hit a tree hard enough to crush the nose of the car into where the seats are. With something narrow like a tree it could do it to only one side of the car.