Lighter cars are not as safe - right?
This entry was posted on 2/10/2008 8:03 PM and is filed under Vehicles.
A possible criticism of increasing non-renewable energy prices is that people will be forced into lighter cars that are less safe. Not so, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. As reported on Yahoo! GREEN:
"....the best scientific research shows that automotive safety has nothing to do with vehicle weight, but everything to do with vehicle size and design."
Other excerpts:
Heavier cars are not safer in a collision. Why? Cars are not simple, solid objects that collide like billiard balls on a table; they have crush zones and structural features designed to absorb impact. The more crush zone available (the longer or wider the car) and the better the structural design, the safer the occupants will be in a crash.
These examples from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an independent, nonprofit organization that compiles fatality statistics, illustrate the point:
- Drivers in a Dodge Neon or Chevrolet Cavalier (2,400 and 2,700 pounds, respectively) are twice as likely to die in their vehicles as drivers of Volkswagen Jettas or Honda Civics (2,700 pounds and 2,300 pounds) due to the superior crash design and safety features of the Jetta and Civic.
- Drivers of a Toyota 4Runner (the safest SUV) are 25 times less likely to die in their vehicles than those who drive Chevrolet Blazers -- the least-safe SUV and the least-safe personal vehicle -- again due to superior design. (Statistics cover model years 1995-1999.)
The more people realize that light, long, well-designed cars are safer than clunky, heavy cars, the closer we'll be to pushing the market toward smarter, lighter vehicles. And the closer we'll be toward reducing the greenhouse gases spewing from our tailpipes-some 10% of the human contribution to climate change.
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