By far the deadliest accident type is the head-on collision. Head-on collisions consider both vehicle's speed at the time of the crash, which means even an accident at lower speeds can be catastrophic.

The fastest recorded land vehicle crash that has been survived was 17 November 1966 at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Art Arfons was driving his jet-powered Green Monster at around 610 mph (981 km/h) when a wheel bearing seized and sent to car tumbling end over end.