Quote:
Originally Posted by gascort
Airbags are very important to reduce neck /head injuries, but I wouldn't put them as my top safety device. Most important I would say are Seat Belts and Crumple Zones - these two work together, and without one the other serves no purpose. Airbags and headrests being adjusted properly are next and are about equal as far as safety in my book.
That said, Click and Clack do have reason to be suspicious of older cars in general, and the swift. Older cars don't have as well-designed crumple zones. Smaller cars (size / length, not mass) are more dangerous in general because they have less room to crumple. Arguing based on a car's weight is a bad argument IMO; it only matters in vehicle - vehicle crashes (mainly head-on) whereas size and design of crumple zones, seat belts, and air bags work no matter what you hit. If a large vehicle and a small vehicle are in similar accidents with a stationary object (tree, wall, etc..) the vehicle with the better design will win regardless of mass.
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The Swifts I've seen after low speed accidents seem to crumple fairly well. High speeds seem to equal death from the various forums I've seen. I take the don't get creamed approach to daily driving. Take the ditch over the back end of the car in front of you.
1992 Suzuki Swift Crash Tests & Safety Ratings at InternetAutoGuide.com
Mass is very important. A friend of mine was a forensic engineer in accident reconstruction and went through some of the physics of why a well designed crumpled up Smart car still can't cut it against a large mass vehicle. The light car experiences just most of the acceleration change which those crumple zones are designed to try and spread out over more time to help prevent the small car guys heart from detaching when his body stops from 60-0 instantly and his heart wants to keep going.
Without getting into the math, you can crumple an entire smart car at 60km/h (front to back as they are designed) and still not have had a big enough change in acceleration to set off the air bags off in the 7000lb. F150 that it hit. The better designed vehicle will not always win.
Think train vs. Mercedes... the change in acceleration of the train when it hits that Mercedes is next to nothing.
*edit* just saw the crash videos... 60mph looks like you're missing a few legs. 35mph in the old one seems to crumple in the back which mean energy is being absorbed there as well. I stick to my thought of avoid high-speed collisions.
