Defenders and Discos the safest road vehicles report request

In article , Pantelis Giamarellos writes

Land rovers are very safe for the people riding in them but a lot more dangerous for those who collide with them. Land Rovers are more like light commercial vehicles with independent chassis. Most modern cars are designed to absorb impact energy through crumple zones, whilst retaining safety cages as a last redoubt should the incoming mass exceed the crumple zone.

The problem with crumple zones when in collision with a sold ungiving object like a Land Rover is that by not giving in a reciprocal way the Land Rover causes greater impact shock to the ordinary car. Therefore the safety issue with Land Rovers is somewhat dualistic. Just like drivers of heavier commercial vehicles, Land Rover drivers should be particularly aware of just how extra dangerous to others their vehicles can be in an accident.

Land Rover drivers should be

Perhaps you tell that to every bloody pratt that cuts me up on Traffic islands and in traffic.

Remember accidents usually have a reason ( driver error ), that would make all drivers equally responsible. Just because it happens to be a LR and the results can be more interesting does'nt excuse ALL drivers other than LR of their duty of care and attention on the road.

Stick to the rules, be courteous, observe others and 99% of accidents will be mechanical failure.

Can't remember the last time I saw a LR speeding down the motorway in the outside lane oblivious to the rain pouring down. Plenty of Beamers, Mercs and the like though. Possibly a reason for a good safety record ?

The main reason for that piece of "safety statistics" is that it is nothing of the kind. It says that in a fatal accident, the surviving driver is most likely to be in a Defender.

There's lots of ways of reading that. You could equally say that an accident involving a Defender is more likely to be a fatal accident. Or that Defenders are more likely to have accidents in the first place.

The Defender must be one of the least safe cars on the road, taking a balanced view of it. Virtually no rollover protection, little deformability, masses of solid metal structures to hit, lack of secondary safety like airbags etc..... OK for the Land Rover driver who hits a Fiesta and lets that take the strain, but you are more likely to kill the family in the Fiesta.

On a similar note, a Defender might be "safe" hitting another car, and basically using its crumple zone, but hitting a solid object like a tree or wall will put enormous forces on the occupants.

Pieter

Certainly round here almost all fatal accidents involve hitting fixed objects or a vehicle travelling in the other direction. At typical highway speeds of 100-120kph it makes little difference whether the vehicle has a crumple zone or not, especially if the vehicle coming in the other direction is a B-double or road train. On the other question, as to whether the vehicle type affects the overall safety and whether this relates to safety features (not just fatalities in a fatal accident but also looking at the accident rate and fatal vs non-fatal) I have never seen anything published, although this information must exist in insurance company files. Unfortunately, even with this information, the conclusions will not represent the overall safety of the vehicle, but the safety of the vehicle/driver/environment - and safe/bad drivers are likely to choose different types of car, and the type of car chosen is likely to be different on average for different environments. JD

I find that other drivers cut me up in my Disco and say that they did not see me!! If they cannot see a Disco maybe they should not be driving?

Happens to me all the time in my silver Subaru WRX, happened in every silver car I have had (asp when dirty) Never happens in a stand out coloured car!

Nige

I hadn't realized that LR could speed. Mine sure as hell can't.

car I have had (asp when

My 110 is bright yellow, people still pull out on me from time to time! It's 'cos people don't look I reckon, far more interested in their stereo or bloody 'phone or whatever else.

Now that I can understand !! My wife has a yellow Ka :-(