(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.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.