Quote:
Originally Posted by 5.4
Is it worth the extra saving in your wallet but to risk safety?
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Safety vs $ is one thing ... but that is not the same as safety vs size ... or safety vs weight.
This is a common but I find at best misleading , and generally speaking incorrect initial assumption... even if it is shared by many people.
There are four other sides of this size/weight vs safety issue , most large vehicle advocates skip... and when looking over the whole issue ... I think in general small and light is safer than large and heavy.
#1> Someone is always bigger/heavier than you.
As others have said car vs car ... me buying bigger does not = me being safer. Unless you are going to avoid the roads that allow any bigger vehicle, the car vs car safety idea is faulty ... limited to roads that don't allow RVs and U-Hauls makes ones driving options extremely limited.
#2> The bigger / heavier vehicle is more dangerous to everyone else around it.
It posses a larger risk to pedestrians, to pets, to property, and in car vs car head on collisions those smaller cars ... or said another way ... choosing to buy bigger/heavier = choosing to put everyone and everything around you in greater risk.
#3> There are other types of accidents than head on car vs car.
Any accident involving hitting a stationary object the heavier car is less safe than the lighter car. It brings more energy into the collision. The human body has the same injury from force tolerances no matter the vehicle. This forces the heavier vehicle to be less safe than the light vehicle. Assuming otherwise equal technology F=ma. If A have superior technology to B that is about the technology not the size or weight.
#4> The heavier vehicle is more likely to get in an accident in the first place.
It's inertia ... the heavier vehicle's greater inertia reducing it's ability to brake to a stop or turn a tight corner to get out of the way... or course there are some technologies that can directly target braking and cornering ... and it is possible specific vehicle A might have some of those while specific vehicle B does not ... but that is about those technologies , and does not change the fundamental issues of greater mass and inertia ... the smaller lighter vehicle with those same level of technologies will always out-corner and brake shorter than the heavier vehicle.
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So as I see it the less $ aspect is a bonus on top of being more safe.