Bigger Cars Aren't Necessarily Safer

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27 November 2009, 1:02am

My passionate hatred for cars has been growing lately. I've spent something like 50% of my time in cars stuck in traffic, due to a combination of people not following general rules of traffic and people getting into small accidents and not pulling their cars off the road. (I've actually begun tracking a lot of my time spent in cars, and have found some scary stats, but that's for another post.)

Recently, bentomas, on his blog, quoted bodyscience.net, saying:

Drive the biggest vehicle you can afford to drive. Your greatest risk of death comes from a motor vehicle accident. Despite all the data from the government on crash test safety, I can say unequivocally that in a 2-car accident, the person in the larger car always fairs better.

I hate this argument, as it could potentially never end. If everyone keeps getting bigger cars because it's safer for them, then everyone else is screwed unless they get bigger cars, implying that the first guy's car is no longer big enough, and so on and so on. Personally, I think we should all ride bikes or take the bus (subway!), but in a country like the US, I understand that's not always possible.

Anyway, in the comments for his post, cremlae noted that bigger is not always safer, and provided this interesting link, with statistics on cars' safety related to their size. They did not consider the types of people driving the cars, which I feel may be a significant part of it; nonetheless, it's worth a quick read.

Noteworthy passages:

Wenzel and Ross determined that SUVs are no safer for their drivers than the average midsize or large car and not much safer than many of the most popular compact and subcompact car models. Drivers of pickup trucks are at even greater risk than drivers of SUVs. When the combined risk is considered, SUVs and pickup trucks are revealed to be significantly more dangerous than just about any car.

...

"In looking at all vehicles, cars designed by Honda and Toyota consistently are safer, and weigh less, than comparable cars designed by domestic manufacturers," Wenzel says.

(via the fool on thescruffypirate.org)