Small Car Safety

[lilpup]

:eek:

Look at the collapse on these cars! (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/automobiles/14crash.html?_r=1&hp) Is it this bad on the domestic builds? I'm really curious now, seeing these pictures after seeing the German crash tests of the Chinese Brilliance models.

Wondering while I wandered the other day - if labor is only 10% of a car's cost, what is the bulk of the remaining expense (is it steel?) and are some companies cutting corners in vehicle builds that aren't readily obvious to the consumer? Yes, there is regulation for safety standards, but is it possible some companies are over-building relative to standards and the competition, causing those companies to have a higher cost product? It's not as if the average consumer would see the difference in structural steel strength just by eyeballing the car.

[East Detroit]

Consumers can check the IIHS safety ratings, but don't always seem to make that their top priority.

Sometimes it seems that manufacturers will trade off fuel efficiency for safety (lighter vehicle, less metal).

Ford garnered the best safety rating combinations, but you don't often hear people conversing about it.

http://www.ford.com/about-ford/news-announcements/press-releases/press-releases-detail/pr-2010-fusion-hybrid-earns-30083

That article speaks to some of the ways that a balance is made (where the Ford Fusion gets the best MPG in its class but also got the top safety rating).

"Fusion and Milan get some of their core strength from the use of lightweight high-strength steel in the body structure. The structure of the Fusion helps it withstand intrusion in a side impact. The tailor-welded B-pillars between the front and rear doorframes are stronger at the top of the vehicle –from below the beltline upward – than at the bottom. This helps to channel energy below the level of the occupants. At the torso level and above, the structure helps to prevent intrusion into the passenger compartment."

[MoparDan]

About the only time a consumer checks the safety ratings of a car is when they're shopping around for their teenage driver. Or so it seems.

[ccbatson]

All else being equal (airbags, ABS, skid control), the occupant of the heavier and larger vehicle is safer.

[Kevgoblu]

Provided our endangered manufacturers both survive. Chrysler / Fiat will be building much smaller cars. GM's business decisions will be at the whim of the federal government. They will also be forced into building smaller, "green" vehicles.

The Big 3 has always been the target of choice whenever there is an accident where someone is killed or seriously injured. Seemingly regardless of circumstances Wonder how much support they'll get when people start getting killed in much greater percentages in auto accidents. Will the U.S. government assume any culpability?

[Gannon]

I believe one of the BEST safety tools IS a small vehicle.

When individuals drive larger ones, they have a false sense of their own security...same with all these technological band-aids towards better driving, it allows a certain percentage to not know their limits until they've exceeded them greatly!

Nah, give me a nimble and quick little vehicle any and every day...I'll pay more attention NOT running into things or letting others do the same to me!

[Johnlodge]

I prefer a mid-size sedan over a small car or large SUV. This has been my opinion.

[Islandman]

I prefer a mid-size sedan over a small car or large SUV. This has been my opinion.

Same here. Still giggling over Hummer being on the list. Gotta call BS, I wouldn't want to hit one.

[ccbatson]

Hey...SM got one right...motorcycles are more dangerous. Notice they weigh about 1000 pounds.