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Re: 2008 Smart commuter car gets 40 mpg and will selling in USA for $12k.

That may be you opinion but you are wrong in your assumptions. You have your facts back ward for one thing. The large the vehicle the more room in which to design in better crumple zones and thus the safer the vehicle for properly belted passengers

As a former automotive design engineer for thirty years, that designed crumple zones for over fifteen years, I can assure you in any similar accident where two like vehicles collide head on, the larger the vehicle the more likely properly belted passengers will sustain fewer injuries and deaths. One can not defy the laws of physics.

mike

> >> A Civic running into another Civic is more likely to result in >> death than an Explorer running into a semi? > Both the Civic and semi would usually be toast if a semi hits them. > > A Civic being hit by an Explorer would be in trouble, but two large SUVs > colliding together would be bigger trouble for the occupants than two > Civics colliding together. > > The large truck like SUVs don't have the crush space of a car, > particularly a mid sized car such as a Honda Accord or Ford Taurus.
Reply to
Mike Hunter
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Frontal barrier crash tests approximate what would happen if two identical vehicles traveling at the test speed were to crash head-on . Most newer vehicles do very well in such tests, but ten or twenty years ago, that wasn't so. (Was that when you were designing crumple zones, Mike?) At that time, it was not uncommon for a small car to outperform a larger vehicle (and especially light trucks) in those tests.

So, engineer Mike, which of these vehicles has a more effective crush zone? Which would you rather be in if you were going to hit an identical vehicle head on?

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Bonus question: Which of these vehicles is more likely to get in an accident in the first place?

Reply to
Gordon McGrew

Let me put it to you this way to make it simple so that you may understand. Properly belted passengers, in five star rated larger vehicles, will have a far greater change of surviving a head-on collision between two like vehicles, than properly belted passengers, in two like five star rated smaller vehicles, in a similar crash, period. The reason being the difference in the effect of the terminal speed of the third collision, when one organs strikes ones skeleton.

I told you the facts, I do not intend to argue the point, or to teach a school on the subject. I could not care less whether you chose to believe that basic principle of physics, or not.

As for me personally I will not subject myself or my family to the prospect of dieing in a small car, to save a relative few dollars a year on fuel, when I can afford to buy larger safer vehicles and the fuel to run them. You may chose to do differently, but that is your choice ;)

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

So you have modified your original claim to specify that the larger vehicle has a 5-star rating. However, you are now stuck with arguing that a pound of lead weighs more than a pound of feathers.

Sorry, Mike, the star rating is based on the acceleration experienced by the dummy's head and chest during the crash. Are you now going to argue that even though the head experienced the same acceleration, the brain felt a bigger impact?

Since you don't have time for the full lecture, maybe you could just answer a few yes or no questions.

You don't have time to argue or teach or even to properly bottom-post your reply, but I notice you did find time to snip my citations. Let me post them back in for you.

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Let me also quote your original claim.

Now:

Does a barrier impact test measure the effectiveness of a vehicle crumple zone, yes or no?

Does a barrier impact approximate the effect of two identical cars colliding head-on, yes or no?

Does the acceleration experienced by head and chest during a collision correlate with likely severity of injury, yes or no?

Is the Chevy Avalanche larger than the Honda Fit, yes or no?

Did the Chevy have higher chest and head values than the Honda in the crash test, yes or no?

Was the NHTSA test governed by the laws of physics, yes or no?

Is your original statement (above) false, yes or no?

At your age Mike, the safest thing would be to let someone else drive.

Reply to
Gordon McGrew

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