FReegards!
Posted on 02/17/2016 3:58:33 AM PST by SMGFan
FReegards!
Have you seen this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ptUrQOMPs
Both cars were destroyed, but the occupants of the new Impala would have suffered minor injuries. The driver of the old Bel Air was dead on impact.
The good news is that in a serious accident, your cars would probably utterly demolish a modern car and your cars would probably be repairable. The bad news, is that you would probably be dead as the driver. This is not comforting. Mass != safety.
I’m not certain, but one of those may be a pre-1970 model. If so, there are no steel beams in the doors. That means, there are two sheets of steel a little thicker than the metal of your refrigerator door between you and a “t-bone” type accident. Those are usually crippling or fatal in pre-1970 cars above 30 miles an hour.
“That’s better than the mandatory seat belt laws. Let the actions have consequences.”
I’d be fine with that, but society pays a high price for dead/injured people, in productivity, and financially. If someone is dumb enough to not wear a seat belt, do you think that they have gold-plated insurance, also? Not around here. Who pays for the injuries/rehabilitation/social security? Take a guess. You.
This is the same thinking behind helmet laws for motorcyclists. Frankly, if they want to risk killing themselves, no problem here; it’s the medical and societal costs that burden the collective society. It’s the old adage, your freedom ends where my freedom starts.
Valid point. Pick your poison. Higher taxes or nanny state.
Interesting you should mention that. Back when I was still in college, on October 27, 1978 on Rt 10 in Chester, VA I was solidly t-boned on the driver's side by a 1967 Camaro while I was driving a 1970 Buick Electra. The cops estimated the speed of the Camaro in the police report at ~ 35 MPH.
I was not wearing a seatbelt and the inert force of the impact propelled me to the other side of the car. I drove the car to the side of the road. The Camaro as you might guess was immobile and totaled.
Damage to the door and to my seat was extensive but I sustained only a few bruises for the most part on my right side.
The investigating cop at the scene freely shared that it was just as well that I was not wearing a seat belt, because people he'd seen in similar accidents often sustained severe hip damage and crushing due to physical restraint imposed by the belt that kept the occupant in unfavorable proximity to the impact.
There are situations and experiences that some have where they will credit the value of a safety belt. I don't begrudge them, minimize their experience, or the value they choose to place on seat belts.
My experience is different. I have been driving for >40 years and still refuse to wear a seat belt.
All 4 of those baby's in the pic happen to be company-owned "daily drivers" and are 1970 model Cadillacs.
Like someone else said - no match for Plexiglas!
FReegards!
Watch the video I posted at 22. You'd be surprised, but that old 1959 Bel Air, as big as it was, weighed between 3,600 and 4,000 lbs (shipping weight). That varied by model (two-door, four-door, wagon, 6-cyl/8-cyl, etc..). The 2009 Malibu (I incorrectly identified it as an Impala) it crashed with? It weighed in at 3,415 pounds curb weight. Not much difference given the size of the cars. The Bel Air was a four-door sedan, and weighed either 3,620 lbs (V-8) or 3,625 lbs (six cylinder). That's between 205/210 lbs difference between the two vehicles, which I'd be willing to bet is made up for in the drive train (front engine/transaxle vs. front engine/transmission/driveshaft/rear axle/differential).
Sources: 1959 Bel Air: http://www.oldride.com/library/1959_chevrolet_impala.html
2009 Malibu: http://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/malibu/2009/features-specs/
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