Re: Huge study about safety can be misinterpreted by SUV drivers
 

Really? I expect that a collision between two SUVs would be more
dangerous to the vehicles' occupants than a collision between, say, two
VW Golfs (Golves?) due to the construction of the various vehicles.

nate

Mike Romain wrote:

> You are an idiot bud.
>
> If everyone drove heavier vehicles, fatalities would go down just as the
> numbers below indicate.
>
> I do note you don't show any numbers for little econo boxes. Why, are
> they something like 10 fatalities?
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>
> Dianelos Georgoudis wrote:
>
>>Recently (October 14, 2003) the National Highway Traffic Safety
>>Administration (NHTSA) released a study about vehicle safety and
>>weight. See:
>>
>>http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...pdf/809662.pdf
>>
>>As expected, the NHTSA study did find that heavier vehicles are safer
>>for their occupants when they crash with a lighter vehicle. This is
>>well known, and many people buy SUVs thinking that their weight gives
>>them a safety advantage. Some publications stress this fact (for
>>example one by USA Today is titled "Lighter cars mean more deaths" so
>>many people who drive SUVs may feel reassured).
>>
>>In fact, as far as SUVs go, the NHTSA study could not have been more
>>unfavorable. Using real world statistics about tens of millions of
>>vehicles over several years they prove that the overall safety of SUVs
>>is worse than of lighter passenger cars. One of the reasons is that
>>SUVs have a much higher tendency to roll over. This means that many
>>people spend more to buy a SUV, spend more on gas, and also endanger
>>others, without much any advantage for themselves. The relevant
>>numbers are:
>>
>>Vehicle type Average weight Driver fatalities
>> (pounds) per billion miles
>>
>>Mid-size 4-door car 3,061 5.26
>>Large 4-door cars 3,596 3.30
>>Small 4-door SUVs 3,147 5.68
>>Mid-size 4-door SUVs 4,022 6.73
>>Large 4-door SUVs 5,141 3.79
>>
>>So it is more probable that you will be killed in a small or mid-size
>>SUV than in a mid-size car that weights less. Only large SUVs are
>>safer for their drivers than mid-size cars, but they are less safe
>>than large cars, even though large SUVs are 1,500 pounds heavier!
>>
>>These are amazing numbers. The prorated figures, which take into
>>account the fatalities in other vehicles involved, are, as expected,
>>even worse.
>>
>>The study does show that SUVs are safer than small and very small
>>cars, which have a disadvantage only because there are so many much
>>heavier vehicles around. Very few people who end up buying a SUV were
>>thinking of maybe buying a small or very small car, so this advantage
>>is irrelevant. Pound for pound SUVs are always less safe for their
>>passengers.
>>
>>Even when comparing SUVs only, more weight is not always better.
>>Significantly, small SUVs are safer for their drivers than mid-size
>>SUVs, even though the latter weight 900 pounds more. I suppose small
>>SUVs are more car-like and therefore avoid some of the safety
>>disadvantages of the SUV design.
>>
>>If you care about your personal safety then, clearly, the best
>>strategy is not to use a SUV but to use a mid-size or large passenger
>>car.
>>
>>Of course, the safest strategy for society would be to put an upper
>>limit to the weight of passenger cars: then we all would drive safer,
>>spend less money on cars, spend less on gas, protect others, protect
>>the environment, and be less dependent on unstable oil-producing
>>countries. Limiting the weight of vehicles is a
>>win-win-win-win-win-win proposition. Vehicles that have to be heavy
>>(such as trucks, heavy duty off-roaders, buses, etc) should have their
>>top speed electronically limited to low levels as to not endanger
>>other vehicles on the asphalt.


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Re: Huge study about safety can be misinterpreted by SUV drivers
 

Really? I expect that a collision between two SUVs would be more
dangerous to the vehicles' occupants than a collision between, say, two
VW Golfs (Golves?) due to the construction of the various vehicles.

nate

Mike Romain wrote:

> You are an idiot bud.
>
> If everyone drove heavier vehicles, fatalities would go down just as the
> numbers below indicate.
>
> I do note you don't show any numbers for little econo boxes. Why, are
> they something like 10 fatalities?
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>
> Dianelos Georgoudis wrote:
>
>>Recently (October 14, 2003) the National Highway Traffic Safety
>>Administration (NHTSA) released a study about vehicle safety and
>>weight. See:
>>
>>http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...pdf/809662.pdf
>>
>>As expected, the NHTSA study did find that heavier vehicles are safer
>>for their occupants when they crash with a lighter vehicle. This is
>>well known, and many people buy SUVs thinking that their weight gives
>>them a safety advantage. Some publications stress this fact (for
>>example one by USA Today is titled "Lighter cars mean more deaths" so
>>many people who drive SUVs may feel reassured).
>>
>>In fact, as far as SUVs go, the NHTSA study could not have been more
>>unfavorable. Using real world statistics about tens of millions of
>>vehicles over several years they prove that the overall safety of SUVs
>>is worse than of lighter passenger cars. One of the reasons is that
>>SUVs have a much higher tendency to roll over. This means that many
>>people spend more to buy a SUV, spend more on gas, and also endanger
>>others, without much any advantage for themselves. The relevant
>>numbers are:
>>
>>Vehicle type Average weight Driver fatalities
>> (pounds) per billion miles
>>
>>Mid-size 4-door car 3,061 5.26
>>Large 4-door cars 3,596 3.30
>>Small 4-door SUVs 3,147 5.68
>>Mid-size 4-door SUVs 4,022 6.73
>>Large 4-door SUVs 5,141 3.79
>>
>>So it is more probable that you will be killed in a small or mid-size
>>SUV than in a mid-size car that weights less. Only large SUVs are
>>safer for their drivers than mid-size cars, but they are less safe
>>than large cars, even though large SUVs are 1,500 pounds heavier!
>>
>>These are amazing numbers. The prorated figures, which take into
>>account the fatalities in other vehicles involved, are, as expected,
>>even worse.
>>
>>The study does show that SUVs are safer than small and very small
>>cars, which have a disadvantage only because there are so many much
>>heavier vehicles around. Very few people who end up buying a SUV were
>>thinking of maybe buying a small or very small car, so this advantage
>>is irrelevant. Pound for pound SUVs are always less safe for their
>>passengers.
>>
>>Even when comparing SUVs only, more weight is not always better.
>>Significantly, small SUVs are safer for their drivers than mid-size
>>SUVs, even though the latter weight 900 pounds more. I suppose small
>>SUVs are more car-like and therefore avoid some of the safety
>>disadvantages of the SUV design.
>>
>>If you care about your personal safety then, clearly, the best
>>strategy is not to use a SUV but to use a mid-size or large passenger
>>car.
>>
>>Of course, the safest strategy for society would be to put an upper
>>limit to the weight of passenger cars: then we all would drive safer,
>>spend less money on cars, spend less on gas, protect others, protect
>>the environment, and be less dependent on unstable oil-producing
>>countries. Limiting the weight of vehicles is a
>>win-win-win-win-win-win proposition. Vehicles that have to be heavy
>>(such as trucks, heavy duty off-roaders, buses, etc) should have their
>>top speed electronically limited to low levels as to not endanger
>>other vehicles on the asphalt.


--
remove "horny" from my email address to reply.

Re: Huge study about safety can be misinterpreted by SUV drivers
 

In article <VQYjb.489624$2x.202488@rwcrnsc52.ops.asp.att.net> , Kevin wrote:

> Heaver is better. Take a large SUV, spend a few bucks and put in a roll
> cage, fire bottle system, and 5 point belts and you will be as close to
> bullet proof as you can get.

The same could be said of practically any motor vehicle, even a geo
metro.

Re: Huge study about safety can be misinterpreted by SUV drivers
 

In article <VQYjb.489624$2x.202488@rwcrnsc52.ops.asp.att.net> , Kevin wrote:

> Heaver is better. Take a large SUV, spend a few bucks and put in a roll
> cage, fire bottle system, and 5 point belts and you will be as close to
> bullet proof as you can get.

The same could be said of practically any motor vehicle, even a geo
metro.

Re: Huge study about safety can be misinterpreted by SUV drivers
 

In article <VQYjb.489624$2x.202488@rwcrnsc52.ops.asp.att.net> , Kevin wrote:

> Heaver is better. Take a large SUV, spend a few bucks and put in a roll
> cage, fire bottle system, and 5 point belts and you will be as close to
> bullet proof as you can get.

The same could be said of practically any motor vehicle, even a geo
metro.

Re: Huge study about safety can be misinterpreted by SUV drivers
 

Nate Nagel wrote:
> Really? I expect that a collision between two SUVs would be more
> dangerous to the vehicles' occupants than a collision between, say, two
> VW Golfs (Golves?) due to the construction of the various vehicles.

Why do you think that? The SUVs have a lot more distance between the
drivers and the front of the vehicle meaning that there is more distance
over which to decelerate and this means the deceleration forces could be
drastically less.


Matt

Re: Huge study about safety can be misinterpreted by SUV drivers
 

Nate Nagel wrote:
> Really? I expect that a collision between two SUVs would be more
> dangerous to the vehicles' occupants than a collision between, say, two
> VW Golfs (Golves?) due to the construction of the various vehicles.

Why do you think that? The SUVs have a lot more distance between the
drivers and the front of the vehicle meaning that there is more distance
over which to decelerate and this means the deceleration forces could be
drastically less.


Matt

Re: Huge study about safety can be misinterpreted by SUV drivers
 

Nate Nagel wrote:
> Really? I expect that a collision between two SUVs would be more
> dangerous to the vehicles' occupants than a collision between, say, two
> VW Golfs (Golves?) due to the construction of the various vehicles.

Why do you think that? The SUVs have a lot more distance between the
drivers and the front of the vehicle meaning that there is more distance
over which to decelerate and this means the deceleration forces could be
drastically less.


Matt

Re: Huge study about safety can be misinterpreted by SUV drivers
 

Matthew S. Whiting wrote:

> Nate Nagel wrote:
>
>> Really? I expect that a collision between two SUVs would be more
>> dangerous to the vehicles' occupants than a collision between, say,
>> two VW Golfs (Golves?) due to the construction of the various vehicles.
>
>
> Why do you think that? The SUVs have a lot more distance between the
> drivers and the front of the vehicle meaning that there is more distance
> over which to decelerate and this means the deceleration forces could be
> drastically less.
>
>
> Matt
>

Probably not, as most cars are now unibody and a "real" SUV has a beefy
full frame. So the car will "crumple" better, unless it's a really
beefy (i.e. very high speed) smack.

nate

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remove "horny" from my email address to reply.

Re: Huge study about safety can be misinterpreted by SUV drivers
 

Matthew S. Whiting wrote:

> Nate Nagel wrote:
>
>> Really? I expect that a collision between two SUVs would be more
>> dangerous to the vehicles' occupants than a collision between, say,
>> two VW Golfs (Golves?) due to the construction of the various vehicles.
>
>
> Why do you think that? The SUVs have a lot more distance between the
> drivers and the front of the vehicle meaning that there is more distance
> over which to decelerate and this means the deceleration forces could be
> drastically less.
>
>
> Matt
>

Probably not, as most cars are now unibody and a "real" SUV has a beefy
full frame. So the car will "crumple" better, unless it's a really
beefy (i.e. very high speed) smack.

nate

--
remove "horny" from my email address to reply.