OT: Big Car Versus Small Car: IIHS confirms the law of physics.

[jimmyle]

I drive a Prius so I am aware of how small my car compared to other vehicles on the road. All I can do is drive defensively. I think a safe driver in a Prius is probably more safe than a maniac in an SUV going 80+ MPH.

One thing that skewed the safety data toward the big SUVs is that 90% of drivers under 22 drive small/compact vehicles and obviously these young and distracted kids have much higher accident rate compared to soccer moms in SUVs.

[jpinpb]

One other thing for the SUVs. Rollover factor.

[jpinpb]

One other thing for the SUVs. Rollover factor.

[jpinpb]

One other thing for the SUVs. Rollover factor.

[jpinpb]

One other thing for the SUVs. Rollover factor.

[jpinpb]

One other thing for the SUVs. Rollover factor.

[SDEngineer]

[quote=flu]

Not exactly. Read the other part of about mini cars crashing into stationary objects. Smaller car => less energy absorption.

heh heh
[/quote]

Not exactly x2. p=mv. A smaller car, being lighter, has much less momentum than a larger, heavier car, which means the collision energy with a stationary object is much lower, hence, they don’t need to absorb as much energy to provide driver protection in a collision. It doesn’t completely offset, but it’s not as cut and dried as you make it seem here.

It’s when you get into collisions with two moving objects that relative mass really puts the small car at a disadvantage.

[SDEngineer]

[quote=flu]

Not exactly. Read the other part of about mini cars crashing into stationary objects. Smaller car => less energy absorption.

heh heh
[/quote]

Not exactly x2. p=mv. A smaller car, being lighter, has much less momentum than a larger, heavier car, which means the collision energy with a stationary object is much lower, hence, they don’t need to absorb as much energy to provide driver protection in a collision. It doesn’t completely offset, but it’s not as cut and dried as you make it seem here.

It’s when you get into collisions with two moving objects that relative mass really puts the small car at a disadvantage.

[SDEngineer]

[quote=flu]

Not exactly. Read the other part of about mini cars crashing into stationary objects. Smaller car => less energy absorption.

heh heh
[/quote]

Not exactly x2. p=mv. A smaller car, being lighter, has much less momentum than a larger, heavier car, which means the collision energy with a stationary object is much lower, hence, they don’t need to absorb as much energy to provide driver protection in a collision. It doesn’t completely offset, but it’s not as cut and dried as you make it seem here.

It’s when you get into collisions with two moving objects that relative mass really puts the small car at a disadvantage.

[SDEngineer]

[quote=flu]

Not exactly. Read the other part of about mini cars crashing into stationary objects. Smaller car => less energy absorption.

heh heh
[/quote]

Not exactly x2. p=mv. A smaller car, being lighter, has much less momentum than a larger, heavier car, which means the collision energy with a stationary object is much lower, hence, they don’t need to absorb as much energy to provide driver protection in a collision. It doesn’t completely offset, but it’s not as cut and dried as you make it seem here.

It’s when you get into collisions with two moving objects that relative mass really puts the small car at a disadvantage.

[SDEngineer]

[quote=flu]

Not exactly. Read the other part of about mini cars crashing into stationary objects. Smaller car => less energy absorption.

heh heh
[/quote]

Not exactly x2. p=mv. A smaller car, being lighter, has much less momentum than a larger, heavier car, which means the collision energy with a stationary object is much lower, hence, they don’t need to absorb as much energy to provide driver protection in a collision. It doesn’t completely offset, but it’s not as cut and dried as you make it seem here.

It’s when you get into collisions with two moving objects that relative mass really puts the small car at a disadvantage.

[an]

[quote=jpinpb]One other thing for the SUVs. Rollover factor. [/quote]
One simple fix for that would be to lower the SUV/CUV so the center of gravity would the similar to a car. Once again, physics is your friend.

Like FLU said, safety and mpg are two different issue. You don’t have to sacrifice mpg for a bigger car. If you get those big SUV/CUV with a small I4 engine, your mpg will be pretty decent too. It doesn’t matter how safe you think you are, if the other guy is not safe, he/she can hit you even if you don’t want them to. That’s why I totally agree with FLU that if we just raise the standard for people to get driver license, that would be the best way to reduce accident.

[an]

[quote=jpinpb]One other thing for the SUVs. Rollover factor. [/quote]
One simple fix for that would be to lower the SUV/CUV so the center of gravity would the similar to a car. Once again, physics is your friend.

Like FLU said, safety and mpg are two different issue. You don’t have to sacrifice mpg for a bigger car. If you get those big SUV/CUV with a small I4 engine, your mpg will be pretty decent too. It doesn’t matter how safe you think you are, if the other guy is not safe, he/she can hit you even if you don’t want them to. That’s why I totally agree with FLU that if we just raise the standard for people to get driver license, that would be the best way to reduce accident.

[an]

[quote=jpinpb]One other thing for the SUVs. Rollover factor. [/quote]
One simple fix for that would be to lower the SUV/CUV so the center of gravity would the similar to a car. Once again, physics is your friend.

Like FLU said, safety and mpg are two different issue. You don’t have to sacrifice mpg for a bigger car. If you get those big SUV/CUV with a small I4 engine, your mpg will be pretty decent too. It doesn’t matter how safe you think you are, if the other guy is not safe, he/she can hit you even if you don’t want them to. That’s why I totally agree with FLU that if we just raise the standard for people to get driver license, that would be the best way to reduce accident.

[an]

[quote=jpinpb]One other thing for the SUVs. Rollover factor. [/quote]
One simple fix for that would be to lower the SUV/CUV so the center of gravity would the similar to a car. Once again, physics is your friend.

Like FLU said, safety and mpg are two different issue. You don’t have to sacrifice mpg for a bigger car. If you get those big SUV/CUV with a small I4 engine, your mpg will be pretty decent too. It doesn’t matter how safe you think you are, if the other guy is not safe, he/she can hit you even if you don’t want them to. That’s why I totally agree with FLU that if we just raise the standard for people to get driver license, that would be the best way to reduce accident.

[Author]

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