Driving Green, are big cars safer than small cars?
Posted 26 weeks 1 day ago byFrom Autoblog Green:
One of the arguments frequently made during debates over raising fuel economy standards is that it will force people to drive smaller, less safe cars. The theory is that in a collision between a larger heavier vehicle and a smaller lighter one the heavy one will always come off better. Reality is, as usual, far removed from theory. All modern vehicles are built to withstand the same standard collisions and modern small cars protect their occupants as well as larger vehicles and generally much better than an older larger vehicle. The team from the UK car show Fifth Gear decided to conduct a crash test between an early '90s Volvo 940 Wagon and a three-year-old Renault Modus.
The results might surprise you. Are bigger cars and SUV's really safer than their more environmentally sensitive, and smaller, counterparts?
Thoughts
Depending on options and
Submitted on March 8th, 2008 by AnonymousDepending on options and load your Suburban weighs anywhere between about 5600 lbs and 7000 lbs. Compare this to the max weight limit of 80,000 lbs that is allowed for big rigs in the US.
Do you really think that gas guzzling SUV is going to save you?
VW bug vs. SUV
Submitted on March 8th, 2008 by AnonymousBack in the day--I drove my VW bug up and down the Pacific coast several times a year without any trouble. Today, I wouldn't do it--. but if everyone drove a smaller car wouldn't it safe again?
suvs vs smaller cars
Submitted on March 8th, 2008 by AnonymousI have driven a Suburban for 8 years. I have never had an accident, hit another car, rolled it. I drive across country quite a bit and I feel safer on the highway in my SUV with all the big rigs out there, so does it come down to my size vs big rigs vs smaller cars? We could go round and round on this issue. It comes down to... how safe do you drive.
Patricia
SUV's are less safe than small cars.
Submitted on March 7th, 2008 by AnonymousThey often roll over and kill their occupants, and let's not forget the fact that they kill more people on collision due to their weight. In addition, they are hard to manuever out of accidents, so they end up in more of them.