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If you are going to base safety on an odd accident like this one, then I am not sure what to say. The first line of defense is driving style and the second line of defense is the ability of a car to avoid the accident. There are some accidents that are going to favor some huge vehicle, but most would be in favor of a well equipped good handling car because you can avoid instead of plow. In the case you are describing, you are probably best served if you are in a semi truck, but shouldn't you take into consideration the countless other ways people die on highways when looking at safety? Oddly, Americans only look at head on collisions for the most part and they NEVER look at the ability of a car to avoid them, they only look at impacts. Why? Follow the money. SUVs have HUGE profit margins and Americans fall for it hook line and sinker.
Very tragic that someone died in this accident. It involved Jenner's Cadillac Escalade rear ending what looks like a white Lexus LS (the biggest model car they make), which caused it to veer into the path of a Hummer. The Hummer sustained severe front end damage, but the driver survived. The Lexus driver was killed on impact apparently. The Lexus vehicles are very reliable (I know because I've owned one for 12 years now). What concerns me though, is the safety of these vehicles in collisions such as this one. Are Lexus vehicles safe? That's the question. I doubt that such a collision with a BMW 7-series would've killed the driver. Your thoughts?
My thoughts are you should read up on physics. Anything heavier than your car, "wins" usually. Take that same Hummer and let it slam headfirst into a Semi-Trailer full of goods....same result. I'll take the driver of the semi for $200.....
It's all calculated on RISK. Driving a Corolla is marginally less safe than a Lexus LS460 L as neither runs a high-risk of a huge deadly accident. However, for that very small margin if they DO get in an accident, the guy in the Lexus stands a much better chance of survival (GENERALLY speaking) than the guy in the Corolla, 9 times out of 10??? Offset frontals, rear-ends, glancing, etc nothwithstanding.....that and pretty much anything else some rube is going to offer to counter this.....
Play the odds...the insurance companies do. And they know quite a lot about actuarial tables. In fact, THE number one reason one car's liability rates fluctuate is due to WHAT they are driving and how HEAVY that vehicle is....pickups liability is much higher as they tend to weigh in at a svelte 4,500-5,500 lbs versus the Kate Moss numbers of a GM Sonic?
People buy lighter cars more for mileage and cheaper TCOS than anything...basic transportation...etc.....you just want to be darn sure that when you do drive the soda can, you are VERY careful as getting into accidents will teach you what a go-kart you are really driving when the thing comes apart in the first few seconds...(good thing we found religion on those seatbelts and airbags, huh?)
That, and perhaps when the lights go out, permanently. Drive safely.
Under some circumstances, it doesn't matter what kind of car one is driving. As far as I'm concerned, the skill of the driver and the care he/she takes trumps the safety factors of the vehicle in the long run.
Large, heavy suv's are really only "safer" in direct impact accidents where their mass gives them an advantage.
Otherwise, when you start talking about accidents with more lateral components like having a tire blow out at 75mph or losing control on a turn or getting spun at speed......you are going to cartwheel like an olympic gymnast due to the higher center of gravity.
My personal opinion is that often larger SUV and truck drivers tend to overestimate the abilities of their vehicles (talking the more casual drivers of the vehicles like the soccer-mom SUVs etc.)....as every time I drive out in icy\snowy weather the vast vast majority of vehicles off the road in the ditch are those. Yes, I know those are the most popular vehicles, it just seems disproportionate even to that plus the guys racing by on icey roads are typically driving that type of vehicle. Once in a while I catch up to them as they sit in the median spun out or upside down etc.
Lots of things come into play. Speed of the Hummer. Was it a head on crash or an offset crash? That makes a big difference. Seatbelts make a difference.
You could just Youtube crash tests on the make and year of any particular car to get an idea.
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