Video: When an SUV rams a smaller car
 

Now I know why North Americans love their SUVs. This video shows several crashes when cars aren't at matching heights in a collision. The final crash with the Range Rover and Honda Civic is absolutely terrifying :eek:.

And the sad thing is, most of the comments left on the video were like "this is why I drive a Hummer H1". I think it would be worse to survive the crash and go with the guilt of the consequences :(.

that was a nice honda why did they have to do that

A roll cage could do a lot to help.

That's not too unusual. The small car suffers obvious, severe damage nobody could survive. The SUV is slightly bruised, but kills everyone inside and out.

There is a problem with crash compatibility, and it lies totally on the SUV. They increase the damage to cars without decreasing their own. So they 'win' by killing the other guy, not by saving their own. Not as anti-social as suicide bombers, but still not very productive.

Until recently an SUV broadsiding you was like a 40-ton semi broadsiding you. Yes, it could happen, but it was rare. Now they test for it, and expect the small car to do well.

Cars still do far better in the leading cause of death, the single-vehicle accident. SUV's are way tougher than you, and will turtle on a drop of the hat. The net result is that you're safer in a Miata than an F350 (check out the IIHS for proof).

"So they win by being suicide bombers." I like that. I see all that saudi oil hasn't poisened our culture one little bit. ;)

man, that one hits home, especially since my VX is based of the same chassis that was annihilated by that SUV, which happens to be an old Isuzu Trooper by the looks of it here in the states. I'm seriously considering installing a rollcage now in my civic. I do autocross once in a while still so would help. I also carry my now 17 month old daughter with me in the mornings and afternoons to a dn from daycare.

Here in MN, I belive that the SUV population is more around 40% than the 33% they suggested as a whole for the states. Could be even higher for all I know.

So . . . what have we learned by this video . . . no parking your cars sideways on a highway.


Hummm . . . my xB is both low to the ground and tall so I guess it covers all heights of vehicle impact.

If anyone's looking into roll cages, make sure to integrate them into the frame w/ some padding or else you may split your head open on one in a 15mph crash. If not, then wear a helmet everywhere, can't go wrong there...

Two words: Accident Avoidance

"Are the best performers the biggest and heaviest vehicles on the road? Not at all. Among the safest cars are the midsize imports, like the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Or consider the extraordinary performance of some subcompacts, like the Volkswagen Jetta. Drivers of the tiny Jetta die at a rate of just forty-seven per million, which is in the same range as drivers of the five-thousand-pound Chevrolet Suburban and almost half that of popular S.U.V. models like the Ford Explorer or the GMC Jimmy. In a head-on crash, an Explorer or a Suburban would crush a Jetta or a Camry. But, clearly, the drivers of Camrys and Jettas are finding a way to avoid head-on crashes with Explorers and Suburbans. The benefits of being nimble—of being in an automobile that's capable of staying out of trouble—are in many cases greater than the benefits of being big."

"Then there's this notion that you need to be up high. That's a contradiction, because the people who buy these S.U.V.s know at the cortex level that if you are high there is more chance of a rollover. But at the reptilian level they think that if I am bigger and taller I'm safer. You feel secure because you are higher and dominate and look down. That you can look down is psychologically a very powerful notion. And what was the key element of safety when you were a child? It was that your mother fed you, and there was warm liquid. That's why cupholders are absolutely crucial for safety. If there is a car that has no cupholder, it is not safe. If I can put my coffee there, if I can have my food, if everything is round, if it's soft, and if I'm high, then I feel safe. It's amazing that intelligent, educated women will look at a car and the first thing they will look at is how many cupholders it has."
-The New Yorker

"Ironically, SUVs are particularly dangerous for children, whose safety is often the rationale for buying them in the first place. Because these beasts are so big and hard to see around (and often equipped with dark-tinted glass that's illegal in cars), SUV drivers have a troubling tendency to run over their own kids. Just recently, in October, a wealthy Long Island doctor made headlines after he ran over and killed his two-year-old in the driveway with his BMW X5. He told police he thought he'd hit the curb."
-Washington Monthly

I don't often cross a 75 mph freeway. That was a propaganda video for the auto industry hell bent on selling more tanks. I can't think of a single moment in which you can be hit on the side by a car going that fast. Plus, they took one of the largest and most rigid cars on the road and hit one of the smallest. I think that in reality, the small car would fare much better, and woule be able to avoid the accident much better because it willbe able to stop or turn faster than the 4000 lb eco-murderer.

Cool vid, I would have liked to see it the other way around. Watching the little car smash into the big one, just to see what would happen. In the real world the big vehicle isn't always the one impacting the small one.

That would be something to see.

Even recent minivans are developing this problem. The belt line is up so high all around unless the kid is above 4 ft tall there is no way you are going to see them, especially if they are directly behind you.

Roll cages would have to be integrated into the frame as omgwtfbyobbq said but they would also have to be made out of some substantial tubing. The stock cage on the jeep is made out of 2.5" tube and it is by no means anything hardy. You will need some major triangulation done to make a cage worthwhile.

Thats funny :p

We have wrecks like that here quite often.

I drive to and from work on hwy 75 south of Tulsa. Its a 4 lane divided hwy with access from roads just like that demo. We call them section line roads. They have stop signs on them.

Last year a lady in a 7th gen Accord didn't stop for her stop sign and crossed into the hwy. Later proven she was on a cell phone call. A Ram Charger hit her. Both driver's died. She was dead in the car. The male in the Ram Charger died in the life flight chopper.

We've had several of these type wrecks at a place in the road called Preston. The last one I drove thru there. The cars where completely destroyed. There wasn't a part large enough laying around that you could ID model by. The occupants of both cars, trucks, what ever they where exploded. There where blankets, towels, body bags and such laying all over a several acre area to cover up remains.

These wrecks do happen. And they are very bad when they happen. Doesn't seem to matter if the higher speed car or truck on the hwy does the hitting. Or the one coming off the side road. Ive seen them both ways. It always seems to involve death, dismemberment, or at the very least a life changing event.

A friend of mine is a first responder for a small town on this hwy. She says size of the vehicle hasn't seemed to matter over all unless its a grave mismatch like a Excursion and Metro. In her experience most of the wrecks are caused by cell phone, pda, use, eating or getting onto the kids while driving. Most cause by the person running the stop sign. Also most are sober or drug free at the time of the wrecks. But when a drug user or drunk is involved they get hung with the blame even if its not there fault. Of note,,, most the the people involved in the wrecks live within a 25 mile radius of the accident site. I would say as much as 75% live close. The rest could be from anywhere in the US.

Its a shame these types of wrecks happen. And when you drive thru one and see the body parts cast about like seed. It kinda gets to you. Ive been making this drive for years,,, well 19 years to be exact. And they have increased by 2x if not 3x since cell phone use has went up so much. I for the life of me don't know what people have to talk about that much. And doing it while driving is very stupid. I ever get hit by somebody using a cell phone and survive it. They will work for me the rest of there natural life. Or I will drive them to kill themselves. By keeping them tied up in court and owning there soul!!!!!!!

psy

They should first consider improving the crossing, the driver or both. These types of accidents are very rare when stupidity is not involved.

I find it a bit strange to have a four lane road with a direct crossing. In Finland where I live all multi lane roads (except for inside a city) have onramps and no crossings.

Simon

Too Many Miles
 

Scandinavia is known for having the safest roads and vehicles on record -- definitely a benchmark for use to learn by.

The problem in the U.S., is that we have so many roads and so much space, that there probably wouldn't be enough tax money to go around if most roads were designed in this fashion.

If a "hotspot" is noted by statistics, improvements sometimes follow -- like redesigning a particular part of the roadway, installing signs/signals/guardrails, and/or increasing law enforcement in that area.

RH77

There is lots of crossing just like that in Saskatchewan. The Trans Canada Highway is 110 km/h in most places and unlike the Interstate System in the 'States, the highway is only about 1% limited access road (the rest are all at-grade intersections. AKA no interchanges). There is a particularly bad intersection (with only a stop sign) when driving from my mom's house to the university:
Attachment 268
There's been dozens of deaths since they made the intersection in 1984 and every time it happens the city always says "Oh, we'll eventually make an interchange there". Yeah, like in the year 2050?

Just last night while driving home in a snow storm, I was climbing a hill about 75 yards behind a Ford eXploder when it suddenly went berserk. It started swerving and fishtailing violently back and forth with the wheels spinning. Then it went up onto the right-side curb and sidewalk and onto someone's lawn swerving again and narrowly missing a tree (that tree better watch where its g[r]owing) and back onto the road in the original direction of travel with the wheels not spinning anymore.

Why? I don't really know. My guesses were 1) idiot on cell phone thinking with the right foot, or 2) using cruise control, it went into open-loop runaway once the wheels started slipping. The possibliities are numerous, but...

My question: what if a Jetta or other small car were coming the other direction and the explorer had crossed the road to the left instead of the right? Bad news for the hapless Jetta driver.

Peakster -

I saw exactly this kind of thing a few years ago on Pacific Coast Hghway in Santa Monica. We were all moving slow because of an accident scene. When I drove by, I figured out that the standard issue midsize SUV (which had little frontal damage) had hit a white Nissan 240SX (great for drifting because of it's rear wheel drive) and totally utterly completely crushed the driver's compartment and part of the front driver's side of the car. They had put a sheet over the driver's seat, obviously to cover the grisly mess.

It was clear that the high bumper of the SUV had allowed it roll over and into the driver's compartment.

I have always wanted laws to make the bumper (and driving light!!!!) heights more uniform. I wasn't aware of the mechanics underlying where the chassis strengthening components were.

It won't stop me from driving compact cars, because we all accept a certain amount of risk when sharing the road with everybody else. It has to do with how much risk you are willing to accept.

For example, when I drove my motorcycle, I accepted the greater risk. In return, I would (strategically) drive in between cars at traffic jams, because I considered that to be a "benefit" to me in exchange for the risk I was taking.

CarloSW2

That is very true. Lots of people think Metros are death traps but I'd rather be in the Metro if it was a collision with a motorcycle. It just upsets me that the general public looks at this video and thinks: "I've got to have the most massive vehicle to protect my family while driving". It's like an auto-industry arms race.

Agreed. I believe it was WRC rally champ Collin McRae who said 'complacence kills'. And that is what it boils down to no matter what you drive. Even lacking the maneuverability of a small car, just assuming that other drivers will screw up can mitigate a fatality or accident altogether.

Just two days ago, I was driving 20 mph through a school zone after hours where people normally do 30 or more when a 8-9 year old boy ran out in front of me. Even at my slow speed, had I not been assuming the worst, this kid, who was completely obstructed from my view by a much larger child until he bolted, would have been F150 meat. Anybody else who had actually waited to ride the brake pedal until the kid started running would have flattened him.

I'm not arguing that I am the safest driver in the world as a justification to drive my gas guzzling kiddie muncher, but people should at least aspire to be because THAT is what makes the biggest difference of all.

I love it. Remarkably, it's probably true that cupholders reduce accidents. I can't count the number of 32 oz. sodas that spilled in my old work truck for lack of a cup holder. Fortunately I always had the presence of mind to just let it go, but there's allot of dried up soda saturating that truck.

Again, an issue of complacence. I ask myself what the worst that could happen is every time I back up and this keeps me exceptionally paranoid. If my two year old is anywhere outside, I won't even move our truck unless I can see him. I'd be suicidal if anything happened. It's simply not a result that I could live with.

Actually the United States is 27 times as big as Finland but has 60 times the population and 75 times more road km. (From the CIA world fact book)

It seems in this case the amount of road is directly proportional to the population and as the USA has a higher GDP per capita you should be able to afford better roads than us.

On the other hand our government is good at collecting taxes, the cheapest Toyota cost nearly $25,000 due to the car tax and gas is $6/gallon

You see the easiest way to get fuel efficient vehicles on the roads is to put a a big enviromental tax on fuel, the market economy will take care of the rest, no complex regulations needed :) Still not fun at the pump :(

Simon

Death is better than paying UK / Canada type tax. I believe thats one of the reasons the US became to be. :)

Simon -

The USA road system would have been formed with the luxury of access to it's own cheap oil supply (Texas), so I think the original economics behind building the road systems in the USA would have been different when compared to Finland. In the built environment in the USA, I think the ratio of developed land that is devoted to roads is something like 33%. I think it would be much less in Finland.

In post cheap-oil USA I think it would cost much more to improve the roads. However, I do think the money is there if we really wanted to invest in the USA infrastructure. High speed trains, new bridges, restored roads, and JOBS!

I agree. Welcome to GasSavers! I like the "crude oil price" indicator on your website. We should have something like that here.

CarloSW2

In Saskatchewan, about 1/3 of the price of gas is tax and all goods/services have an 11% tax added on (5% provincial sales tax & 6% federal sales tax). So that $15,000 sticker price car would end up costing $16,650.

What are the the taxes in Finland like?

The U.S. still pays it, just not directly. Factoring in all the subsidies to oil companies, all the defense spending needed to protect our oil supplies, all the personal and property damage caused by oil pollution, gas would easily exceed $10/gallon.

Excessive direct taxes are bad, but so too are excessive subsidies. The U.S. has the same exact problem even if it may not appear that way at first glance. $200 billion a year is spent on corporate welfare alone, never mind all the expensive tax-funded contracts to giant companies, which are lined with huge profit margins that the taxpayers are billed for.

The U.S. government was not intended to be a wealth redistribution scheme by our founding fathers, not from the rich to the poor, nor from the poor to the rich. Unlike the nanny states like UK/Canada which tend to distribute in the former manner, we distribute in the latter.

One thing that's worse than excessive direct taxes are the indirect taxes we pay. They are undemocratic and unaccountable. That's why kleptocracies like the U.S. banana republic uses them with such wild abandon.

Be proud of America: we have the best government money can buy.

And if you don't like it, go buy your own senators!

Good idea :D

I dug up an example from a local website to make sure I have the number right.

Taking a 20.000 EUR Toyta as an example

Selling price 20.000 EUR ($26 734)
Value added tax (VAT) 3.600 EUR
Importer and dealer margin 4.000 EUR
Car tax 5.400 EUR
Cost of car when imported 7.000 EUR

The car tax in this example is 27% of the final price and the VAT is 18% making a total of 45% taxes.

The car tax is really bad, otherwise it's nice to live in Finland, education is virtually free for example, it's possible to take a univeristy degree without loan, scholarship or support from your parents

Simon

Holy smokes! Suddenly the 11% PST/GST at home doesn't seem so bad. Question: is that 45% tax only for new cars?

Actually, looking up your country on the internet, Finland isn't really all that geographically large (half the size of the Canadian Province, Saskatchewan) but your country has over 5 million people! Saskatchewan is around 960,000 for comparison :o. Thus is sounds like that your country as evolved into not relying on automobiles as much? I would assume the commutes are much smaller and people ride bicycles and such to get around more commonly.

The car tax is only when a car is imported, regardless of if it's new or old. There is no VAT if a sell my car to someone but I'm not sure how it works if it's sold by a dealer.

I've allways considered Finland to be scarcely populated :), and compared to many European countries it is. The overall pouplation density in Finland is 17people/square km while Germany has 232, Belgium 341, The Netherlands 392, France 110, Italy 193, UK 246.

Still that does not tell us very much about how people live as most people live in cities anyway (and the US has a population density of only 31 still most people in the US probably lives in more crowded areas that those in Germany and the Netherlands as those countires don't have many uninhabited areas.

In Finland the southernmost district has a population density of 205 while the nothernmost district only have 2.2 persons / square km

Actually where I live outside Vasa, a city on the west coast with a population of 60.000, people commute up to 100km into the city (by car), as they want to live in the rural area where they where born, or where they have built a house and feel at home. Others commute up to 40km for the benefit of cheeper land to build on and to get out of the crowded area around the city.

People use a lot of bikes in the city areas, a 10km commute can be done by bike in the summer half of the year. When I was younger and went to school inside Vasa (8km) I used the bike also in winter, only when the temperature dropped below -20C/-7F I decided it wasn't worth it at took the bus instead :)

We have separate roads for light traffic (people and bikes) in the urban areas, which makes it easier get through the city by bike. Inside the city it's usually an extended sidewalk while in the suburbs they may be totally separate roads between residental areas.

It's in my opinion a great way to easy traffic congestion by making it easier for people to use the bike and walk.

Simon

well yes around here there are tones of areas like that situation on the video.
i HATE with a passion all these stupid people around here (mostly women) that think i have a H1 so im safe or they haev the huge tahoe's. i still say they should make you fill out a form so you can prove that you accualy need a SUV because in reality noone really does...or these people who think they need 4wd around here in IL (flatter than a board) then thier dumb as rocks and think "well i have 4wd i can go the speed limit on snow and taligate anyone" lol my 2wd manual truck goes just fine. i remember once that i was going up a hill kinda slow spinning the wheels and a 4wd suv whipps around me and guns it to show off ( i guess or hes just retarded), well he gunned it and kinda slid it into a ditch and got royaly stuck. i just went creaping by and lightly honked my horn at him...lol the little pleasures of life...

it used to be my street goes to a 4 lane highway where the speed limit is 50 mph. Before they put the traffic lights up (used to be stopsigns for streets crossing the road) my mom and i were involved in a collision when i was in preschool. My mom pulled out to go but a van at the last second decided to keep going straight when it was signaled to turn and plowed into the rear quarter pannel of our 84 Plymoth reliant. spun us around 4 or 5 times acording to whitnesses. all i remember was looking left and seeign a van front end comming close for us then the last thing i remember was opening my eyes and looking out my window that was totally busted out. and my mom rubbing her head cuz it hit her window...car was still running amazingly... I remember our neighbor was behind us and he drove the car home and we fixed it and kept it for many years...then other bits i remember were the paramedics arrived i rode in the ambulace and they gave me a hotwheels ambulance toy car. (lol i still have it) and beeing in the ER at the hospital and seeing my dad walk in. only problems they found with me was i had a chunk of window glass in my lip but that was about it...my mom just had a bad headache for a while.

but noones had any accidents since then so were glad for that. just ive had a few close calls with people merging wrong... or not stopping to turn right on red so i almost plow into thier door...

Well there certainly is a big requirement for buying an SUV: loads of cash (both for the purchase and the gasoline) :p.

If anyone needs a big offroad vehicle I found this on our local auction site

https://www.huuto.net/fi/showitem.php3?itemid=50119594

It's Russian, with 6 wheel drive, a petrol V8 and plenty of room :)

Simon

More like loads of credit, usually.

Man, that video scares me. I'd say 75% of the cars around my area are SUV's. I don't know why, but little econoboxs are nowhere to be found. I want to put a roll cage in my Saturn...

id love to see the same test but reversed. honda rams the side of the suv... especially todays suv's that are usually unibodys and sheetmetal floors much like a car...

That'd make a great grocery getter! I should buy it.