“Would be okay if every vehicle on the road were that size.”
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Exactly. Crash testing is done at a specified speed into a stationary wall. The opposing force is always equal to the mass X speed of the vehicle hitting the wall.
This is how a tiny car can earn a better safety rating for frontal collision than a large SUV. It’s only encountering opposing force equal to its own.
In reality, the tests should be conducted by imparting force to the test vehicle equal to the average vehicle’s weight X speed it’s likely to encounter on the road.
You’d see quite different safety ratings for these toys.
I didn’t realize that about crash tests.
The opposing car should be the average weight of a car on the road.
“Exactly. Crash testing is done at a specified speed into a stationary wall. The opposing force is always equal to the mass X speed of the vehicle hitting the wall.”
Wouldn’t the survivability be a bit more complicated?. If a motorcycle, small car, and large truck hit a concrete barrier at the same speed I don’t think the survivability would be the same for each.
And it doesn’t even get that great of gas mileage- My old 2003 Honda Civic manual shift hatchback got about 45 miles to the gallon.
I wish I still had that car- I needed to get rid of it for a 4 door when the kiddies came along. It had over 300,000 miles and ran like new.