Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Does that mean one should be extra safe when driving an old car, and medium or low safe when driving a "safe" newer car?  |
Well....let's just say that older cars require much more defensive driving to be safe. The oblivious way in which most people drive isn't safe in any vehicle, but in an older one that is not designed to crash it is far worse. My point in my original post is that newer cars (starting with the Mercedes-Benz W123) are designed to crush the ends and be rigid around the passengers. Older cars are designed to look pretty. This is why the cars of the 50's have those very thin, vertical windshield pillars. They counted on the curvature of the windshield to provide a level of support to the roof that unfortunately shatters in a hard crash. GM actually did calculations to prove that the curved glass provided more support than steel back then but the truth is that the design of all of the structural components surrounding the passengers in a car that old is inadequate as a total system. This is especially true of older roof rails that tend not to be boxed sections and thus transfer the force upwards and allow the other vehicle to push back the firewall. This is also why pillarless hardtops are no longer made. They are a horror in a side impact (the other vehicle-be it a Cadillac or a Geo Metro-will drive right through the middle of the car as the doors provide little resistance) and worse than a pillared car in a frontal or rear impact.
Even if you compare cars of a much newer vintage, say 15-20 years old, to those of today the difference is substantial. I saw a British test from 5th Gear comparing a Renault Modus ( Nissan Versa chassis) to a Volvo 740 wagon from the early 90's. The Modus obliterated the Volvo-which was considered a extremely safe car at the time. It is because of Euro-NCAP and NHTSA and their 5 star systems that this has come to be. The standards have been consistently ratcheted up making the cars of today very safe to be in but very deadly to be on the receiving end of if you are in an older model.
Do I hate old cars? Not at all! I love them for their style and for being a representation of a simpler time. However, I think I would rather be in a Smart car in an accident than any of them. They just were never designed to crash well.
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No green technology will ever make a substantive environmental impact until it is economically viable for most people to use it. This must be from a reduction in net cost of the new technology, not an increase in the cost of the old technology through taxation
(Note: the car sees 100% city driving and is EPA rated at 37 mpg city)