Crash In A Small Or Big Car?

[Mark H]

http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTest...operVsFordF150/

 

Amazing how well engineered the mini is compared to the SUV.

[Mark A]

As usual a very misleading article.

 

No mention made of the fact it's a comparison of a 1997 design against a 2002 design. The Pick-up is probably an even older base design than that.

 

Have a look at the latest version of the Pick-up. 2004 Ford F-150

[Wuddie]

Them god damn americans...Perhaps no one should tell ford they crumple like that..then we can get rid of a few red necks

 

(25 to go)

[Martin_S]

As Lotus owners, I think we should all bear in mind that NCAP et al are all obsessed with 'Secondary Safety' (ie. keeping the occupants alive once a crash has happened).

 

Personally, I have always favoured the aircraft industry objective of 'Primary Safety' (ie. make sure that the bloody thing doesn't crash in the first place!).

 

Not 100% acheivable on the roads, obviously. but good handling, steering response, braking and acceleration all help - all things that SUV's are diabolical at.

 

Personally, if I was going to have a major crash, I'd want to have it in something with a bit less inertia, too....

[Mark H]

It does actually mention that further down the page Mark, was more interested in the overall picture of how bad the SUV's faired in general.

 

Update 2: Ford has redesigned the F150 for 2004 with an notable advances with regards to safety. In fact the IIHS had named the new F150 a "Best Pick" in the large truck category. Now granted this doesn't change the fact that Ford designed and released the previous generation of F150s knowing there were safety concerns. Further it doesn't change any of the statistics showing larger vehicles cause more havoc on the roads. But it does show that Ford clearly understood the issues with the previous generation and worked hard to alleviate them.