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Your just talking "scale of mass" which is an unfair comparison of personal use vehicles. The very same thing can be said of that F350 getting hit by a military tank. Life doesn't come with guarantees now does it? That means everyone takes their chances when they simply get out of bed as to what dangers that day may bring. Everything it relative to the risk you take.
Engineers do the best job they can to deal with an "average" to make the vehicles we all drive as safe as humanly possible. Then there are those people who do stupid things or just plain get
unlucky that no engineer can predict. Like that F350 getting hit by a tank.
The Ford F-150 was one of the best selling trucks in the world. Combine that with the Toyota Tundra, Chevy Silverado and it's GMC clone, and the Dodge Ram and your chances of getting hit by a fullsize pick-up truck goes up greatly and that's not including the SUVs that share their components and weigh more. I was in a low speed wreck with a Ford F-250 truck. I was in a Cavalier and the truck ran a yield sign. Even at less than 40 mph, the truck totalled my Cavalier. The truck had some minor cosmetic damage.
Your just talking "scale of mass" which is an unfair comparison of personal use vehicles. The very same thing can be said of that F350 getting hit by a military tank.
You kinda blew your own argument within your first two sentences. It's a unfair comparison of personal use vehicles. to use your term.
You than go on in sentence number two to compare a "F350 getting hit by a military tank"....Since when is a military combat tank a "personal use vehicle" ? Hmmm/ ??
The fact of the matter is , the crash tests as presently implemented (vehicle versus crash barrier devices " give a reasonable indication of how well the vehicle is constructed....however.... to then make the leap of logic and try to predict how two different vehicles will hold up against each other in a collision is bogus. Further more the folks that do the crash test freely admit to that factand caution against these sort of bogus conclusions.
In the real world...and that's the world I drive in, the roads are NOT populated predominatly by Smart cars etc. If they were then those tests might have some merit in predicting the "winner" in a car to car crash.
Real world physics and anecdotal observations confirm that given two vehicles, BOTH built to equal levels of "crash protection", the one with the larger mass generally is the clear winner. Physics 101.
In real life crashes, the big truck will win. I guarantee you take a new F350 dually and slam it into the side of a Volvo, which does have excellent ratings, you will see what I mean.
That big truck is more likely to roll over than a small car. The small car may also be able to avoid an accident that a big truck couldn't avoid simply due to it's overall size and manuverability.
The big truck driver doesn't care that their truck takes 30 more feet to stop than a car. Or that it couldn't avoid an accident without rolling over. They'll just blast ahead and go through whatever is in the way.
I hope the big vehicle fans here don't think F350s and Excursions are the answer for everyone.
The big truck driver doesn't care that their truck takes 30 more feet to stop than a car. Or that it couldn't avoid an accident without rolling over. They'll just blast ahead and go through whatever is in the way.
I hope the big vehicle fans here don't think F350s and Excursions are the answer for everyone.
Yes, you helpe me make my point thanks. There really are drivers that crawl behind the wheel of big trucks and think to themselves.....Size intimidates so get outta my way. This idea then becomes action making the truck a lethal weapon (read tank) in their hands.
In real life crashes, the big truck will win. I guarantee you take a new F350 dually and slam it into the side of a Volvo, which does have excellent ratings, you will see what I mean.
Why would someone be slamming into the side of a Volvo in the first place? If you are defensive driving, it is far more likely you will be hit, not the other way around.
One disadvantage to big vehicles with a high center of gravity is that many guard rails are more likely to trip them up than to stop them from going off a bridge or cliff.
Generally, I'm all for air bags and whiplash protectors on seats, but I don't like the way these things have sacrificed visibility. In addition, I believe the improvements in handling and ride quality encourage people drive faster and more recklessly because it no longer feels dangerous.
If I wanted a safe car or truck I would get a ford F-350 super duty dually 4x4 of ford excursion no matter what car may hit you chances are you will be ok. plus the force of the impact will be trasnfered to their vehicle thus preventing you from being hurt
Size matters. Don't assume that what you hit will be a Ford Escort. That transfer of force is a relative thing...
I am all for the safety measures. They have saved me a few times. No air bag usage, but the ability to avoid stupid people, especially in the winter. Hit some black ice going around a corner in the new Sorento and before I could correct the slide the ESC did it for me. That was cool.
I'm all for all the safetey equipment a manufacturer can possibly fit into a vehicle.
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