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Just a few thoughts to add here:
Physics #1: Assume large, heavy vehicles are indeed safer than small ones. Passenger trains are about the largest, heaviest vehicles you can find. Ergo, there should be few if any deaths or injuries in train wrecks. Even a quick search on "passenger train wrecks" should convince anyone that this is not the case. (Note that the important thing is not the actual train accident rate, which of course is much lower than on highways, but the number of deaths & injuries in those wrecks that do happen.)
Physics #2: Drop a mouse from a cliff. Do the same with an elephant. Which walks away, and which splashes? Time to re-think that "heavier is safer" theory? And to avoid the "but the mouse has a lower terminal velocity due to air resistance" argument, do the experiment in a vacuum :-)
Experience: My neighbors' granddaughter and her boyfriend were killed a few months ago, when their new large 4WD pickup went off the road and rolled. Ironically, she'd just traded in her little yellow compact because people kept telling her it wasn't safe.
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