Insurance institute not impressed by minicars, suggests drivers buy bigger

[ckramer]

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released crash-test ratings Tuesday for subcompact vehicles but did not endorse any of the models it evaluated.
Instead, the institute urged consumers to stick with bigger, heavier vehicles, which typically are safer for motorists.

Real-life crash results show that any car that's very small and light isn't the best safety choice, said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2006-12-19-small-car-test_x.htm

============

Apparently the solution is ban SUVs, not buying bigger cars...It's not a penis size competition!

[Kagemusha]

1. Um, would by any chance, insurers make more profits on SUV insurance?

Surely this would not skew their impartiality at all?

...

[slackmaster]

2. They're doing pretty well on me

I pay a premium to drive a 4-wheel-drive vehicle, and have never filed a claim.

[Warpy]

5. They do, but they have to shell out a lot less

in injury costs when the victim is protected by a couple of tons of metal.

I agree, though. Ban the gas hogs by making them prohibitively expensive to own and run through taxes and liability insurance.

It wouldn't hurt to drop the highway speed limits, too.

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. What would you suggest dropping the speed limits to?

The idea that a lower highway speed limit decreases fatality rates is not borne out by the facts. In fact, the overwhelming majority (76%) of fatal traffic accidents occur on city/urban streets where the speed limit is 55 MPH or LESS.

Source; http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/finalreport.cfm?title=Crashes&stateid=0&year=2005&title2=Location

Lots of interesting stats on that page. It has long been demonstrated that one of the safest driving environments is a limited access, divided highway while traveling within the 75th percentile of traffic flow regardless of the speed limit. In other words, if 75% of the traffic is driving 85 MPH and the speed limit is 60, the safest speed to travel is 85.

[Der Blaue Engel]

3. Minicars are much safer when others don't drive behemoths

But by all means, lets all just keep getting bigger and heavier vehicles until everybody has a hummer. :eyes:

[RedRocco]

15. I love my smaller car

And I wouldn't trade it for 2 SUVs.



I know its old, (1981 in fact) but my 'rocco outperforms most other cars on the road. And she gets 34 honest miles to gallon while she does it.

[bluerum]

4. A vehicular arms race. Just peachy. nt

[LeftyMom]

7. They're not saying to buy a Hummer. They're saying the teeny tiny cars aren't safe enough.

Even an upgrade to a Civic from a Fit is a big step up in safety, especially if you get the full complement of side air bags. The tiniest cars are so light and generally too cheap to have the safety features standard with slightly larger models.

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. Since when did insurers become part of Big Oil?

I can't think of any other possible reason for this report. It is no different from those "studies" bought and paid for by Big Tobacco which "proved" that smoking cigarettes carries no health risk and that second hand smoke is not carcinogenic.

[daleo]

9. And smaller people should just gain 100 pounds

That way, bigger people couldn't push them around.

The reasoning is similar - buy big cars to protect yourself from other people's big cars.

[truthisfreedom]

10. Car size isn't important. Fuel type is. We need new CO2-free cars.

ASAP.

[BootinUp]

11. What if

we encase the mini-cars inside a layer of flubber?

[silverweb]

16. LOL

I like your solution best!

:D

[nebula]

12. Like, duh.

You don't need the IHS to tell you mini-cars are less safe than full-size cars.

Federal agencies just love to waste taxpayer dollars on useless research that confirms what anyone with half a brain already knows.


As if the national debt wasn't big enough. Stupid ass feds.


Edit: Just realized IHS isn't a federal agency. But this report is still stupid and pointless.

[brentspeak]

13. For once, I agree with auto insurers

When a gigantic buck (male deer) several years ago decided to commit suicide on the highway by jumping in front of my minivan, the only thing that saved my life was...being in that minivan. Had I been driving, say, a VW Beatle, I would have been road pizza along with the buck. My minivan was about 2/3 the length following the collision, but all I suffered was a bad headache.

[amandabeech]

17. I drive a small two-wheel drive pickup that belonged to my late father.

I was moving through an intersection in the D.C. suburbs when someone driving an older, smaller civic attempted to shoot through the intersection at right angles to me at a speed too high for the location.

Said civic bounced off the right corner of my front end and into another car. The civil looked awful,the other car had a dent and I had nary a scratch. Thank heavens, no one was hurt.

Before my beloeved truck, I dove a series of small cars, but was involved only in a couple of minor fender-benders. I'll probably get a regular a couple of years from now, and I'm leaning away from the subcompacts, particularly those without good air bag systems.

However, I'd be happy if everyone turned in his or her truck or SUV. I'd miss mine due to the emotional significance, but I do believe that it would be better for our fuel consumption and safety to get the things off the road.

I'd also like to see more long and medium distance trucking moving to rails, with the truckers getting first dibbs on railroad jobs.

[Megahurtz]

14. Sure, hang on to that Behemoth Fucking Stupid Ugly Vehicle

so you can cream others just so your own selfish ass can be safe.:sarcasm:

That's what I feel about the "bigger cars are safer" bullshit.:grr:

[knight_of_the_star]

18. Especially with the difference of heights of the bumpers

I drive an Elantra and most of the bigger cars on the road have their bumpers level with my hood at best or at worst my face. That probably has a lot to do with the increased risk, small car owners shouldn't suffer because other people drive gas guzzlers and ego-boosters.

[rebel with a cause]

19. I'm not impressed with car insurers

I suggest drivers buy cheaper. :sarcasm: sort of.

[seasat]

20. I don't think they're endorsing SUVs, though.

I read a study a while back that showed that SUVs are more dangerous than mid size sedans. Many are adapted from trucks and lack any side impact protection since they just plopped a new body on a truck chassis. The newer ones are better but they still have more problems with roll over since they are top heavy. An SUV, IMHO, gives you an illusion of safety so drivers may be more aggressive. Plus if you get a 4x4 SUV insurance companies charge a premium because taking a vehicle off road can lead to more accidents. The safest vehicles (if I remember correctly) are the full to mid size sedans. The linked article recommends the mid size Accord and Camry with a 4 cylinder for better mileage.

[Pavulon]

21. Dont blame newton

a tin can doen not hold up like a volvo or camry. common sense.

[WatchWhatISay]

22. Don't be duped by the Institute

http://www.hwysafety.com/
CAUTION! The IIHS is an insurance industry public relations and lobbying organization that publishes politically motivated faux studies to support, and promote, its collective self–interest, not the people or the general welfare of the public.

Revelations from IIHS show that they may be a lead cause in the nations red–light running crisis and the associated high fatal accidents. They spearheaded a movement to shorten yellows causing more entries on red (collisions), this movement undermined sound engineering practices and benefited red light camera makers and the citation industry. Approximately 25 percent of this group’s sponsors income comes from citation surcharges. A report by congress showed that returning to sound engineering practices reduces accident rates and that these cameras are about money, not safety. Moreover, they are also a leading proponent of removing due process from automated traffic fine collection.

Its position papers, studies, reports and compiling methods rarely conform to, or meet accepted scientific and traffic engineering research practices or pass peer review verifications. Too often, IIHS conclusions express a publicity driven political agenda that is not supported by fact (teen driving, red light cameras, speed, dui, etc.).

Its crash test are of interest but its criteria does not reflect real world conditions nor does it represent a true picture of the vehicle’s overall safety design features (active and passive) or the testing done by its manufacturer examining all possible crash scenarios and safety concerns or its corresponding real world occupant safety record

[bhikkhu]

23. so fuel efficiency = looming death

pardon if I am not impressed, though I am sure they will not fail to extract their profits from the oil aversive crowd. Fortunately I am not required to insure my bicycle, in spite of its undoubted death-trap status.

[ckramer]

26. "fuel efficiency = looming death" - That's what they want you to believe

Safe or not safe has to do with the experience of the driver, in most of the cases.

You can avoid most of the dangerous situations if you handle your car correctly and smartly.

[GreenZoneLT]

24. The story talks about crash-barrier tests

They're saying "buy a four-cylinder Accord," not "Buy a full-size SUV."

People worry too much about auto safety, anyway. If an 18-wheeler or a tree has your name on it, it doesn't matter if you're in a Hummer I. Wear a seatbelt, and you double your survival chances in a wreck. All this other crap like air bags and whatnot increases your odds by very small percentages beyond that.

[fujiyama]

25. I don't know why people are blaming this study

when it's just stating the obvious.

Unless everyone was driving a smaller vehicle, the risk to the occupant of a very small vehicle will be greater.

Not once is it stated in the article that the institute recommends people buying an SUV. It actually states that buying a compact or mid-size with comparable gas mileage would be a safer alternative.