Is the risk of driving small worth it?

[Jay2TheRescue]

In the video you can see the Smart's A-pillar and doorframe buckle, and then the dummy's head hits the A pillar.

[GasSavers_Erik]

Is that simulated blood coming from the smart driver's head? Or maybe a dye to show what the head hits...

[Jay2TheRescue]

They put different colors of paint on different sections of the dummy's head so it will rub off on the interior. When they look at the car they know exactly where the head hit.

[bowtieguy]

i'm w/ ya snax. all things being equal, the larger vehicle is the safest--and no one will make me understand differently.

a couple years ago a lady rear-ended me in my delivery truck. she hit me so hard, my bumber was pushed in ~18 inches. i REALLY felt as tho i ran over some relatively smooth railroad tracks, just sitting still. i got out to a suprise, seeing that she contacted my truck halfway up her hood such that her airbag did not go off. i don't think she ever did brake at all.

my decision to go small came after an epiphany of sorts...i'll take the REALITY of guaranteed savings vs a HYPOTHETICAL vehicle collision any day.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Originally Posted by bowtieguy

i'm w/ ya snax. all things being equal, the larger vehicle is the safest--and no one will make me understand differently.

That's not really the point. The point is that it may not be significantly safer to outweigh other benefits. You can't put an ultimate premium on any amount of safety improvement not matter how small, or you wouldn't be willing to drive in the first place.

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by maximilian

That's not really the point. The point is that it may not be significantly safer to outweigh other benefits. You can't put an ultimate premium on any amount of safety improvement not matter how small, or you wouldn't be willing to drive in the first place.

i don't care what the point was/is; i was simply trying to convey that i too have often thought of a serious collision and what the result might be.

the "other" benefits were considered, which is why i bought a chevy prizm. if i drove my w/ kids more often, it is likely my choice would be different.

yes, driving anything has it's risks. how many SUV owners thought they were safe when the turned over their vehicle due to high center of gravity?

[Lug_Nut]

I believe the size of the vehicle has much less to do with operator risk than the distance from initial point of impact to the operator.
The Smart with it's stubby front doesn't leave much distance between the bumper reaching zero mph, and the steering wheel, "A" pillar, dash board, windshield, reaching zero mph. Remember that it's not the car's exterior impact that causes bodily injury, it's the body's impact with the car's interior that does.

Kodiak / TopKick with the engine in front, or Mitsu Fuso with cab-over: Which is safer in a front impact?

Smart, head-on, or the mid 80's Caddy in the driver's door: Which is safer?

I'll crash a Greyhound bus into a wall at 100 mph and walk away, provided the controls are set up to operate from the rear seat.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Don't forget the driver's organs impacting against their bones. That's the crash that scares me most.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I'll take an accident in a mid 80's caddy (provided we're not talking about a Cimmaron) any day over an accident in a Smart.

[FrugalFloyd]

I wouldn't be so quick to choose the Cadillac. It may have had a non-collapsible steering wheel in the mid-80s, and may not have had any air bags. My 1987 Chevy Astro van lacked all of those, and both its passenger and driver would have been severely injured in the 35 mph government crash test. It's likely the mid-80's Cadillacs weren't any better.