(Toyota Yaris)
Posted on 12/19/2006 7:56:35 AM PST by shrinkermd
Americans who buy the smallest cars on the market are twice as likely to have fatal accidents as drivers of midsize and larger vehicles, according to a report being released today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The data and increased sales of the fuel-efficient "minicars" prompted the institute to test, for the first time, eight models to determine which are safest. Minicars typically weigh about 2,500 pounds or less, half the weight of large pickup trucks or SUVs such as the 4,500-pound Ford Explorer...
In the testing, only the Nissan Versa received "good" ratings in front, side, and rear crash tests. The Toyota-made Scion xB received a "poor" rating in side crash tests, as did the Honda Fit in rear-end crashes, while the Toyota Yaris was rated "marginal" in rear-end crashes.
The nonprofit organization, which is funded by the automobile insurance industry, also found that in 2005, the fatality rate in minicars between one and three years old was 144 deaths per every 1 million registered vehicles. That compared with a rate of 70 deaths per million for midsize cars and 67 per million for the largest ones.
The report said size is not the only factor affecting safety in minicars. Side airbags can help reduce the chance of serious injury or death in an accident, even in small vehicles, but some models do not come with the bags as standard equipment. Instead of spending more money on safety features, buyers sometimes opt for luxury options such as upgraded stereo systems. Side airbags as a stand-alone option can be as inexpensive as $250, but they are often folded into option packages that can cost $1,000 or more.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
File this in the "Well Duh!" folder.
Gee thanks Professor.
BTTT
Same points were made in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Ho hum.
A six-inch steel spike in the center of the steering wheel will reduce auto accidents dramatically.
Small cars allow for greater damage to riders then large ones - who would have thought that? Wasn't it last year they wanted to tax SUV's because they were sfer then small cars and it was unfair.
"At a used car lot on the edge of town, a Liberal Guy and a Liberal Gal buy a Yugo"
Natural selection at work?
CAFE kills
But doesn't that decrease total lifetime carbon emissions of the occupants of those vehicles?
...and they drive with pride.”
(Toyota Yaris)
The central planner nannies' answer to that will be to insist on enacting a law to put governors on all cars so that we can't exceed the speed at which the crash dummy is injured.
Doh!!!!!!!!
Gee, maybe there was a reason that for decades Americans bought midsize cars in droves.
But you'd think the laws of physics would change for people trying to do the right thing and conserve fossil fuels... < /s>
Everyone repeat after me: "Correlation does not imply causation".
Off the top of my head I can think of any number of reasons that the most obvious interpretation of these statistics - that you are more likely to be killed in an accident if you're driving a small car - is not the only, or most important one.
In particular, I'd be willing to be that young people (say under 25) are over-represented as the drivers of small cars. And we know that the young, especially young men, do not have the safest driving record, as a group, so are more likely to be involved in accidents in the first place.
Having said that, if you are involved in an accident, undoubtedly it does make a difference what kind of vehicle you are in. I was a passenger in an early-90s Ford Escort (the Mazda 323 derivative version) that got rear ended by a guy likely going 50 mph faster than us when he hit us. I escaped with a concussion, a hell of a lump on my forehead, and some general scrapes and bruises. The driver made out even better. Anyone in the backseat of that car probably would have been dead or severely injured, though, as the car was about 6 ft shorter after the accident.
The Scion probably has a much higher accident rate because it is the ugliest vehicle on the road and it just makes other drivers angry.
A Yugo's kind of dated. How about a Prius?
Small cars save the planet...and also if the occupants die...no more greenhouse gasses made if they leave the earth...good for the Sierra Club..they should all buy them..
Best Paul Shanklin song, ever.
Why don't you try it first for a couple years and report back to us on how it helped you?
There could be a lot of other factors.
"How to keep your Volkswagen alive for the complete idiot"
Ahh yes, that book kept me on the road for three or four of my younger, more carefree years.
Thanks for totally missing the point of my post. Which would be that small cars may be getting involved in accidents in disproportionate numbers.
As far as your point goes, should we all drive 7,000 lbs trucks, then, for safety? No? So how big is "big enough" to feel reasonably safe in? The weight difference between a 2500 lb econobox and a 3500 lb mid-sized sedan is small compared to the weight difference between either and your big truck.
A Ford Expedition saved my families life.
I will never again buy anything smaller then an SUV.
Well gee, in a collision between a Chevy Tahoe and a Prius, just who is gonna get the worst of it?
We should all drive like that, all the time. Even if it's not my fault, killing someone in a small car while driving a big car is not something I'd want on my conscience. Otherwise I'd be like those idiot big-rig drivers I see going down the highway at 75 mph 15 feet behind the vehicle in front of them - what do they care? Any accident they cause isn't going to hurt them. Yes, I know most truckers aren't like that, and that (idiotic) people regularly cut into any space they try to leave in front of them - another example where people aren't thinking and driving defensively.
Fact is, while a majority pf people say that safety is a high priority for them where vehicles, and driving, is concerned, a quick perusal of the behaviour you can observe around you on a daily basis on the road suggests that most people don't really think these things through too well.
1) Kill yourself - save the planet.
Or...
2) Driving is too unsafe - stay in your urban safe zone and ride a bike.
I drive a F150 SuperCab which IIRC is about 5,100 lbs curb weight. When I get into my wife's sedan I get nervous and she has enough airbags in that thing to float a yacht.
I just feel comfortable in a bigger car - isn't it all about feelings anyway?
I would love to get the little cars off the road. It would make more room for my SUV.
Appears size does matter after all.
The numbers could still work out, but comparing accidents/registrations isn't the best comparison, you want injuries per people-miles.
It could be that the small cars are driven a lot farther than the big cars. People who buy small cars for their long commutes to save gas, and drive their big cars for shorter trips, for example.
Huh, I thought it was the other way around. You buy the small car for the in-city commute and for running errands, but if you have to drive a long way or spend a lot of time in it, you get a DTS or a TownCar.
I know a lot of people who have the big 4-wheel-drive pickups, and they just use them for their weekend "fun-around-town" driving, and use their smaller cars for their commutes. But I guess other people would want the more roomy cars for longer trips.
I don't know, both of my cars are Priuses. I used to have a van and a car, and we drove the car for longer trips but the van for vacations when we needed more storage.
Well gee, in a collision between a Chevy Tahoe and a Prius, just who is gonna get the worst of it?
Unless he is careful, it might be tow truck operator who is electrocuted when he tows it away.
I had a bug when I was 16. Back in the day when you would give a 16 year old a car that had the gas tank sitting on your lap, heated in the winter with pure car exhaust and seats that would eject you out the back window if rear ended.
But it was cool.
My parents actually encouraged me to buy a 300 HP muscle car when I turned 17, to get out of that "death trap".
Good sharp point. There are no accidents with a key in the ignition or a round chambered.
Either we are equal or we are not. Good people ought to be armed where they will, with wits and guns. Merry Christmas
I had a 1971 Super Beetle convertible with the flat windshield.
I could never warm it in the winter..nor was I able to get a proper seal overtop between the top of the windshield and the convertible top when it was up.
Thus, a lot of wind whistled through the top when it wasnt covered in duct tape.
As the snow flies
At a used car lot on the edge of town
A liberal guy and liberal gal buy a Yugo
And they drive with pride...
so size DOES matter! :)
Safety's relative.
And a car's best safety feature is a good driver.
What the wackos want it for ALL cars to be small.
I love my Nissan Titan. I get such nice looks from the lefty bumper-sticker crowd.
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