IIHS releases study of vehicles with the highest and lowest driver death rates

[Jeanum]

Yesterday's Detroit Free Press has an article about a newly released Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) study of driver death rates by vehicle make and model:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...014/BUSINESS01

For the full results, here is the direct link to the IIHS study: http://www.iihs.org/sr/pdfs/sr4204.pdf

[CPSDarren]

Interesting statistics from the IIHS as always-

It's also always sad to see the high death rates for the [typically] younger males who think they have superior driving abilities in the sporty cars with great handling, braking and crash avoidance capability. Yet, the large, lumbering minivans often driven by stereotypical soccer moms have among the lowest death rates.

Lots of other demographics at work in the numbers, even though the IIHS compensates somewhat for certain factors like gender. You can see that crash avoidance and crashworthiness are not the only factors, given that some identical "twin" models and other very similar vehicles have death rates that vary by 50% or more.

Vehicles do vary in terms of safety, but simply making sure that all passengers are properly restrained and that the driver is unimpaired and driving safely are greater factors in preventing highway fatalities.

[southpawboston]

Originally Posted by CPSDarren

Interesting statistics from the IIHS as always-

It's also always sad to see the high death rates for the [typically] younger males who think they have superior driving abilities in the sporty cars with great handling, braking and crash avoidance capability. Yet, the large, lumbering minivans often driven by stereotypical soccer moms have among the lowest death rates.

i agree, but i would say that what young males lack is experience, responsible driving behavior and good judgment (which is linked to experience, but not always proportional to). ability and judgment are quite different. the stereotypical soccor mom is someone who is responsible and appreciates the importance of safety more than a typical young male who doesn't yet have a SO or kids of his own. of course the driver makes a lot of difference, as the "twin" vehicle comparisons reveal (crown vic versus grand marquis). i think if you had the young males driving the minivans you'd see higher death rates, and if you had the soccor moms driving the sports cars, those cars would see lower death rates.

but ultimately, the most winning combination is a safe vehicle (crashworthiness + emergency handling ability) AND a safe, experienced driver.

[CPSDarren]

Yup- that was my point. The safe driver who makes sure their passengers are properly restrained is going to have a relatively low risk of fatality in most vehicles. Buying a model with the best crash avoidance and crash safety features is icing on the cake, so to speak.

[joolsplus3]

So are you guys saying I CAN have my Mazda 5, even without ESC, if I drive carefully?

[southpawboston]

no. get rid of it. now. i better get rid of my mazda 3 ASAP as well, before my family perishes.

btw, i didn't know you had a 5.

[joolsplus3]

Originally Posted by southpawboston

no. get rid of it. now. i better get rid of my mazda 3 ASAP as well, before my family perishes.

btw, i didn't know you had a 5.

\


Oh, I don't have one, but you know MY, as in, in MY dreams...

[CPSDarren]

Originally Posted by joolsplus3

\


Oh, I don't have one, but you know MY, as in, in MY dreams...

It will have ESC, hopefully sooner than the 2012 deadline.

Were you at the Lifesavers session with me where the NHTSA researcher apologized over and over for how long it took them to recognize all the research on stability control? They said the evidence was so compelling they essentially went to mandating it and skipped the process of making it a "recommended" feature altogether.

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/dot3707.htm

[CPSDarren]

Originally Posted by southpawboston

no. get rid of it. now. i better get rid of my mazda 3 ASAP as well, before my family perishes.
:

Well you can always trade it on the Civic Si;-) Honda finally got wise and put stability control on it for 2007.

I'd love to have my wife trade in her car for one of those so I can drive it. Better yet the Civic, Camry or Accord hybrid. One of these years, maybe.

[joolsplus3]

Originally Posted by CPSDarren

It will have ESC, hopefully sooner than the 2012 deadline.

Were you at the Lifesavers session with me where the NHTSA researcher apologized over and over for how long it took them to recognize all the research on stability control? They said the evidence was so compelling they essentially went to mandating it and skipped the process of making it a "recommended" feature altogether.

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/dot3707.htm

Shucks, missed that session...but I did see that press release on the news the next week...that 10,000 lives saved really caught my attention... I'll keep chugging away with the 2003 Ody for a little longer, as long as the kids still fit in boosters it's ok

[CPSDarren]

Originally Posted by joolsplus3

Shucks, missed that session...but I did see that press release on the news the next week...that 10,000 lives saved really caught my attention... I'll keep chugging away with the 2003 Ody for a little longer, as long as the kids still fit in boosters it's ok

Back to the original topic, you did see this comment in the IIHS press release, I assume;-)

"More evidence of ESC effectiveness is that all but 3 of the 15 vehicles with the lowest overall death rates have this feature, usually standard (the Chevrolet Astro, Honda Odyssey, and Honda Pilot don't).

I'd say you're good to go since the 2001-2004 models were included in the statistics. For what it's worth, tied for the 9th lowest death rate of all included vehicles aint too shabby

[joolsplus3]

Originally Posted by CPSDarren

Back to the original topic, you did see this comment in the IIHS press release, I assume;-)



I'd say you're good to go since the 2001-2004 models were included in the statistics. For what it's worth, tied for the 9th lowest death rate of all included vehicles aint too shabby

Phew!