Originally Posted by
DYNASTY HVY
Yes they all have to pass crash tests , what I'm getting at is the survivability rate of such crashes. If you had a choice between a Prius and a Crown Vic which one would give you the highest chance of survival in a 60 mph crash? And speaking from personal experience I,ll take the Crown Vic over a box on wheels any day of the week.
Years ago I was coming home from a trip and was stopped at a red light when I was rear ended by a pick up truck doing between 55- 60 mph and yes I was wearing my seat belt and literally walked away from that accident , don't know how but I did when you consider that the trunk was shoved into the back seat and and the back seat was shoved forward. My life's more important than trying to save a few bucks on gas .
Same here. My last car purchase, actually it is a light truck, was meant to be used primarily as a highway vehicle. I want it to be able to survive a roll if I fall asleep at the wheel (hope not) or somebody rear ends me (quite possible). We are all in a potential rear end crash situation just about every day. Safety is a huge factor in buying a car and I do not feel safe in most of the cars out there these days. The other thing to consider is eye height. In the last 15 years so many people have gone to light trucks that it is very hard to see anything when one is ahead of you. I never noticed this in the 80's or 90's and now it is a huge factor in daily driving, just being able to see around the SUV ahead. Another thing which has been shown to be safety risk with smaller cars is bumper height. There is no law that your bumper has to be matched for optimum safety against that Chevy Tahoe that just ran into you. Your car goes underneath requiring jaws of life while he walks away from the scene. I believe there is some interest by NHTSA in solving this problem, but so far it obviously has not been solved. All these concerns are why I feel the best solution to the fuel issue is to come up with a renewable fuel very similar to gasoline or diesel.