IIHS News Story - Effect of Weight on Safety

[CPSDarren]

We've always known that small cars may have an advantage in accident avoidance because they may have good handling compared to large cars. In side impacts, the ratings may be more comparable across vehicle weight classes. Unfortunately, in frontal crashes, a smaller, lighter car is often at a disadvantage if it crashes a larger car or SUV. It's simple physics. This is why you can't compare frontal crash test ratings from one vehicle class to another. It's also where the composite risk ratings from www.informedforlife.org come in handy of you are considering more than one type of vehicle.

http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr041409.html

http://www.iihs.org/externaldata/srdata/docs/sr4404.pdf

[keri1292]

My sister loves her Honda Fit. :(

I'm intrigued by this point...

Another way to conserve fuel, and serve safety at the same time, is to set lower speed limits. Going slower uses less fuel to cover the same distance. The national maximum 55 mph speed limit, enacted in 1974, saved thousands of barrels of fuel per day. It also saved thousands of lives. Highway deaths declined about 20 percent the first year, from 55,511 in 1973 to 46,402 in 1974. The National Research Council estimated that most of the reduction was due to the lower speed limit, and the rest was because of reduced travel. By 1983 the national maximum 55 mph limit still was saving 2,000 to 4,000 lives annually.

"Fifty-five was adopted to save fuel, but it turned out to be one of the most dramatic safety successes in motor vehicle history," Lund concludes. "The political will to reinstate it probably is lacking, but if policymakers want a win-win approach, lowering the speed limit is it. It saves fuel and lives at the same time."

Part of me can't imagine going 55mph again (on the highways), but if it saves money AND most importantly saves lives, it seems like a no-brainer. I don't see it happening in this fast paced society, but I wish we could slow down. Unfortunately, even I admit that the only thing that will keep my foot off the gas pedal is if they actually lower the limits. :o

[CPSDarren]

Higher limits certainly affect safety, simply having more energy makes it more dangerous.

Another factor is moving signifcantly faster or slower than the prevailing speed on the road. If everyone is doing 70mph, taking your own initiative and driving 55 makes you an obstacle. The same applies when traffic is doing 65 and someone doing 90 is weaving around everyone else.

[southpawboston]

while this makes the argument for everyone to go out and buy a larger vehicle, it also makes the argument for everyone to go out and buy a smaller vehicle :).

[CPSDarren]

while this makes the argument for everyone to go out and buy a larger vehicle, it also makes the argument for everyone to go out and buy a smaller vehicle :).

Yeah, weight is a bonus in head-to-head crashes against smaller vehicles.

Weight and size can be a drawback in head-to-head vehicles against similar vehicles and especially in single vehicle crashes and crash avoidance.

I remember a study many years ago found that the smallest and largest cars posed the most risks to their own passengers. The ideal would be to eliminate the extremes and have a more uniform fleet of vehicles of a lighter weight to reduce the energy in crashes. Yeah, like that will ever happen.

[christineka]

The speed limit was 55 when I was a new driver. I went 55 and was the slowest one on the highway. My vw was so old that it didn't do well if I went much faster anyway. If the speed limit was put back down, I bet most people will go 70-80mph anyway.

[lovinwaves]

I wonder how Honda's "ACE" engineering would factor in with real world crashes where the vehicles are vastly different sized.

[skaterbabscpst]

while this makes the argument for everyone to go out and buy a larger vehicle, it also makes the argument for everyone to go out and buy a smaller vehicle :).


Yes, but for MANY people, a smaller vehicle isn't an option. I guess that means everyone should have larger vehicles. ;)