Ford Fusion vs Herd of Bison: Fusion Wins, American Buffaloes Die, Ford Celebrates

This is the kind of tale you expect to read on a random forum and not on the official media site of Ford, but apparently times are changing and automakers are leaving no stone unturned in order to create some buzz around their products. Ford released this photo along with the story the owner of the 2007 Fusion sedan, Maureen Edgerton, 51, from Montana, who had an unfortunate encounter with a heard of bison near Yellowstone Park as she was driving home on April 11, 2009.

According to Ford, the 55-mile-per-hour (about 90km/h) impact killed several of the migrating "American buffalo" on the snowbound highway but Edgerton managed to leave the scene with only minor scrapes and bruises, all thanks of course, to the "tough 2007 Fusion", as FoMoCo proudly claims.

"While Ford Motor Company does not have specific requirements to protect customers in collisions with bison or other animals (so you don't say...), all of the company's vehicles are designed and tested to meet rigorous crash safety requirements," said Ford in a statement released to the press. "These requirements help protect occupants in all sorts of collisions, even with bison, which can grow to more than 6 feet tall, 11 feet long and more than 2,200 pounds."

And if you're curious to find out what Edgerton had to say about the incident, here's what she stated: "The crash was like a war scene. By the time it was over the hood was smashed in, the mirrors were ripped from the doors and the windshield was shattered, but the interior of the car wasn't affected whatsoever. And the car was still running and not leaking fluid. Not even the tires were deflated. Everyone who came to the scene asked 'what kind of car is this?' because they couldn't believe it was possible to walk away from such a crash."

Unfortunately, neither Ford nor Auto Cars 2011 managed to contact any of the surviving the members of the family of the American Buffaloes that were involved in the accident.