Ron Richman, an attorney in San Francisco, recently received a phone call from the eldest of his two sons, Sam, a lawyer in Los Angeles. The father immediately heard something in his son's voice that wasn't right.

His instincts were accurate. The younger Richman, 29, had been driving his 2014 Subaru Impreza hatchback with a friend as a passenger on Santa Monica Blvd. at 30-35 miles per hour. He was hit from behind by a car witnesses estimated was traveling about 80 mph. The Subaru Impreza then hit a bus.

 

The totaled driver's side of a 2014 Subaru Impreza hatchback after a recent Los Angeles crash. All images © Ron Richman/2020.

Sam Richman suffered a concussion, bruised lungs and kidneys, deep bruises from his seatbelt, a sprained ankle and a concussion. Sam's friend, whose name is not being used via request, suffered two crushed fingers, a sprained left hand, bruises and a black eye. Both are recovering well.

The elder Richman, who lives with his wife Kathleen in Foster City, California, is our guest in Episode #129 of The Weekly Driver Podcast.

Co-hosts Bruce Aldrich and James Raia discuss the accident and its aftermath with Richman. We talked about how a used Subaru Impreza helped saved the lives of his son and his son's friend.
Subaru Impreza impressive
"My son said he never saw the car coming," said Richman. "The next thing he knows he's is hit from behind, spinning the car around and into oncoming traffic. His car then hit an oncoming LA Metro Bus. The bus driver was able to slow down some and swerve, avoiding a head-on collision."

Richman, who drove to Los Angeles with his wife to assist their son, further explains:

"The Subaru had front and side airbags, front and back seats, all deployed. The side airbags truly did their job, but as little as I know about car design and crumple zones, it appears the car did exactly what it was designed to do, absorb the impact and protect the driver and passengers."

"After seeing the car, I was just shocked, and amazed that my son and his friend were able to walk away from that crash with relatively minor injuries."

Richman, who supplied the images in this post, also explains how talking about what happened has helped him.

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