Considering Small SUV, Input Requested

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

She loves my Fit but doesn't feel safe in it at all.

Chances are the safer you feel, the less safe you are

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Some drivers get too reckless with all those nanny-gadgets available in newer cars, or when they assume their vehicles are somehow overbuilt...

[Xist]

I thought that the smrtcar was ideal for my ex-girlfriend, while her mother thought she should have an SUV. I thought that the smaller and more vulnerable-feeling, the more defensively she would drive, and have less chance to hit things in parking lots.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

At some point extra height no longer provides a feeling of safety.

I love it- the Sport Utility Camel!

oldtamiyaphile- Armor makes you stupid.

[ecoTex]

A story I heard:
A guys wife buys a new car. She has it for a few days before her husband gets a chance to ride in it. She is coming to busy intersection at speed with cars already stopped at a red light. Gets to within a couple hundred feet of rear ending the stopped car at 45mph (with her husband screaming) and slams on the brakes, anti-locks are howling. She stops short of hitting the other car, barely. He asked "what the hell are you doing?"
she replies, " the salesman said I have anti-lock brakes and this is how they work"
Evidently she had been driving like that for days.

[kir_kenix]

Originally Posted by ecoTex

A story I heard:
A guys wife buys a new car. She has it for a few days before her husband gets a chance to ride in it. She is coming to busy intersection at speed with cars already stopped at a red light. Gets to within a couple hundred feet of rear ending the stopped car at 45mph (with her husband screaming) and slams on the brakes, anti-locks are howling. She stops short of hitting the other car, barely. He asked "what the hell are you doing?"
she replies, " the salesman said I have anti-lock brakes and this is how they work"
Evidently she had been driving like that for days.

God, sounds like my ex wife! She went through more brakes and rotors than any person I've ever met.

I hate driving with other people, as many of them are just terrible drivers. Sometimes for work I have to carpool to meetings or events, and I just dread them. It just amazes me how often they floor the accelerator even when we are in stop and go traffic...or how they will accelerate towards a yellow light only to slam on the brakes over and over again.

I agree that sometimes people feel too comfortable or "safe" while driving. However, I'd feel a heck of alot better about getting side swiped or t-boned in my 1 ton vs my Canyon. Maybe it's psychological, but I truly feel that the bigger, heavier, beefier built vehicle will soak up more of the damage than my little truck.

Twice while on deployments I've been in vehicles that slammed into cement barricades at fairly high speed. Once in an MRAP (International type, 40,000lbs with armor and weapons) and another time with in an up-armored Expedition (probably 6,500 hundred pounds total). I got a nasty goose egg on my head, a black eye, and some stitches in the MRAP. The Driver of the Expedition got seriously hurt and I got really banged up in that accident. The MRAP got scratched up and the Expedition got totaled. Obviously not apples to apples by any means, but it did show (to me anyway) some validity to the heavier better built vehicle surviving collisions better.

Not sure how well that correlates to civilian accidents, as the Expedition on the highway would be 1000000% better at avoiding accidents to begin with. Small vehicles get lost in blind spots easier, and aggressive drivers seem more likely to cut off a Honda Fit than they do me with a truck that will demolish their ride.

I guess there just isn't a perfect vehicle out there. If we all went around trying to get the perfect all around vehicle we would all do alot more walking because it doesn't exist. It's all about compromises. I'm willing to trade some of that feeling of "safety" for a cheaper vehicle that gets better fuel economy. Some/most Americans are not willing to make that trade.

[UltArc]

People do behave differently when on the road depending on ones vehicle. Cruising at 59 on the highway in the Mustang, cars will line up behind me. Doing 65 in the Insight, cars FLY past me- [without the boattail] cars will not drive behind it.

Same with starts. People rarely pull in front of me from a stop while I'm in the Mustang, unless they are trying to incite some type of illegal street race. The Insight? Even though I pull away more aggressively, vehicles feel the need to fly past.

I also noticed more people use their turn signals when pulling in front of me when I am in the Mustang.

[vskid3]

Safety isn't really the logic behind her liking a taller vehicle, its mainly for visibility (or at least perceived visibility).

We test drove a Fit last night. My wife didn't really like it. We also test drove a 2010 Honda CR-V and a 2014 or 15 Mazda CX-5. She liked both, but preferred the CX-5. However, I think she's warming up to the idea of just dealing with the Prius. Having it paid off is definitely a plus, most anything else would require a loan or many months of saving.

[nathan01xl]

If visibility is an issue you could try out one of these, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040DXAW. I love mine!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by kir_kenix

I agree that sometimes people feel too comfortable or "safe" while driving. However, I'd feel a heck of alot better about getting side swiped or t-boned in my 1 ton vs my Canyon. Maybe it's psychological, but I truly feel that the bigger, heavier, beefier built vehicle will soak up more of the damage than my little truck.

Twice while on deployments I've been in vehicles that slammed into cement barricades at fairly high speed. Once in an MRAP (International type, 40,000lbs with armor and weapons) and another time with in an up-armored Expedition (probably 6,500 hundred pounds total). I got a nasty goose egg on my head, a black eye, and some stitches in the MRAP. The Driver of the Expedition got seriously hurt and I got really banged up in that accident. The MRAP got scratched up and the Expedition got totaled. Obviously not apples to apples by any means, but it did show (to me anyway) some validity to the heavier better built vehicle surviving collisions better.

Not sure how well that correlates to civilian accidents, as the Expedition on the highway would be 1000000% better at avoiding accidents to begin with. Small vehicles get lost in blind spots easier, and aggressive drivers seem more likely to cut off a Honda Fit than they do me with a truck that will demolish their ride.

In a collision they may be safer, but in case of rollover a heavier vehicle is often more deadly...