Small car=Deathtrap? Your opinion?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by 5.4

Obviously larger cars will fair better in a crash vs a small car...

Mark Twain had something to say on this:

It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.

Or if you want the science, see e.g. Wenzel & Ross: "The Effects of Vehicle Model and Driver Behavior on Risk"

[5.4]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Or if you want the science, see e.g. Wenzel & Ross: "The Effects of Vehicle Model and Driver Behavior on Risk"

See that the thing here in Ontario, if someone owns a large suv most (not always) they are the more calm driver (trying to save more fuel or just the fact the suv is slower) and they drive more safely, not the hothead in his small manual coupe.

And there's the cost factor that a large car here is almost twice the price of a small one (yes I know it depends) so your not going to be getting inexperienced first time drivers in massive suv's.

[Ladogaboy]

Originally Posted by 5.4

See that the thing here in Ontario, if someone owns a large suv most (not always) they are the more calm driver (trying to save more fuel or just the fact the suv is slower) and they drive more safely, not the hothead in his small manual coupe.

And there's the cost factor that a large car here is almost twice the price of a small one (yes I know it depends) so your not going to be getting inexperienced first time drivers in massive suv's.

I actually see the opposite behavior here. Those with bigger vehicles tend to try and bully their way down the road, whether it be merging into gaps that are too small or refusing to let other cars onto the road.

And in terms of speed, I get passed on the freeway (by an excessive margin I might add) by SUVs just as often as I do by Camrys and Priuses. I'm sorry, but 80-90 mph is not a safe, slow speed for a Tahoe, Navigator, Excursion, Escalade, Hummer, Armada, Sequoia, etc. But they drive that way anyway.

[larrybuck]

If you keep aware of whats going on around you , a small car is also a smaller target, and
can likewise avoid messes w quick evasive moves in tighter places!

I certainly think the poll shows a general preference: smaller rigs usually handle better, and are more fun to drive!

[Frank Lee]

Anyone who is too chickenisht to ride in a small car is also too chickenisht to get on any two-wheeler of any sort; use stairs or a bathtub; eat cheeseburgers and Doritos; or leave the house.

[serialk11r]

It's about the car's design, not the car's mass. A heavier car absorbs more impact energy into the structure, and I imagine in side impact situations having the door give away more could be troublesome.

[IamIan]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

A heavier car absorbs more impact energy into the structure

You have it backwards.

F=MA
or
Kinetic Energy = 1/2MV^2

Under the same deceleration ( say you hit a stationary object ) or the same initial speed ... the more mass you have the more impact energy you have. Mass increases the impact energy not decreases it... Mass doesn't absorb the impact energy , it increases it.

A better design is a better design ... that part I'll give you ... but the mass part you have backwards.

[Frank Lee]

I know a semi-driver who was hit by another semi and will be a vegetable for the rest of his life. So much for the large vehicle arms race, when you get screwed even at the very top.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

A heavier car absorbs more impact energy into the structure, and I imagine in side impact situations having the door give away more could be troublesome.

Unfortunately, the data doesn't support your thinking. See the Wenzel & Ross paper, and particularly the differences between body-on-frame SUVs and unibody designs.

I also think you need to get over this fatalistic "I'm going to be hit by another car no matter what, so I'd best carry around a ton or two of armor to protect me" attitude. A good course on defensive driving weighs nothing, and will do more to protect you & your passengers than any amount of added mass.

[larrybuck]

I love the way Frank simply lays it out!

If we worried ourselves to death about every little thing, we wouldn't have much of a life!

I've thought more than once about giving up motorcycles. But the enjoyment I get back from them is near the focal point of who I am to myself!


Yes, I know I have no protection in the natural realm of things, but if I go that way; it will have been something special to me! (a life w riding in it!)

I still shudder when I'm 5 car lengths from a stop sign w a blind hedge to the right; and a bimbo turns left off a highway totally cutting the blind corner, so if I'd been 1 second faster, and splattered oncoming like a bug!