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Old 06-21-2010, 11:41 PM   #7 (permalink)
JacobAziza
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 397

Big Orange Work Truck - '83 Ford F-250
90 day: 27.54 mpg (US)

Jessica's - '04 Toyota Matrix
90 day: 41.21 mpg (US)

Ninjette - '01 Kawasaki Ninja EX250R
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I gotta respond to that last line

There is a huge misconception that everyone from consumers to manufacturers to insurance companies have totally bought into.
The mass of a heavy vehicle can absorb some of the impact inertia in a head on collision.

On the other hand, weight increases momentum exponentially, so that (given the same brakes and speed) a vehicle that weighs twice as much has FOUR times the braking distance.
Which means that, all other things being equal, a heavier car is more likely to get into a collision in the first place.

Think about it - which is safer, the car that survives a crash, or the car that avoids the crash all together?

Just as important, in a rear-end crash or a side-impact, extra mass in a vehicle does not increase survivability.
In crashes involving a car and a semi-truck, the truck hitting the car is by far the more common crash (braking the distance) and yet at the same time, more fatalities occur from cars hitting trucks than the other way around (being hit from the rear, even by something as massive as a semi, doesn't tend to cause fatalities)

Rear-end Large Truck Crashes - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

The lesson is: if you really care about safety, instead of buying a heavy car, slow down, pay attention, and don't drive into the back of a truck or into oncoming traffic.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Piwoslaw View Post
A few months ago I returned home just as my neighbor pulled into his driveway. It was cold (around freezing) with some rain and sleet, and he yells to me: You rode your bike? In this weather?!?

So the other day we both returned home at the same time again, only now the weather is warm, sunny, with no wind. And I yell to him: You took the car? In this weather?!?
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