Safety of Small Cars

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: 1sttruck
"Its not the small cars that create the problem, its the large vehicles."

Then tell small car drivers to keep from cutting in the bit of extra space that I keep in front when I drive the pickup, especially the ones that then hit their brakes. Tell the small car owners to avoid doing the same to medium duty delivery trucks and the large semis, and to also avoid hitting the really big bridges, buldings, and the planet earth.

I drove motorcyclces for 20 years, and don't have much sympathy for people whining about being in a small car. The worst vehicles that I see on the road are the 'cockroach cars', which are the Civics with the spoliers, [censored] can mufflers, etc., zipping lane to lane like some sort of bug. Next for some reason are BMW drivers.

I agree. You can't blame any one class of vehicle. I have had people in all different kinds of vehicles cut me off, nearly t-bone me, rear end me, etc...

A couple weeks ago I was driving to the store when I nearly destroyed a Honda Accord. I was yards from the entrance to a parking lot, doing about 30 MPH (5 MPH below the posted limit) when the Accord driver, who was going the opposite direction just turned in front of me to go into the parking lot. I slammed on my brakes and stopped feet from his rear passenger door, where his kid was sitting. Rather than going into the parking lot, he just stops there and honks his horn at ME! In this case, the large vehicle was not the problem. I'm just glad the large vehicle has good brakes!

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: Titan
The Death rate due to vehicle accidents in the US is still near 40,000 people per year, isn't it?


I don't know how you guys manage that feat.

Your population is about 12-14 times that of Oz, and the death rate is 40 time ours.

 

[Jethro]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: Titan
The Death rate due to vehicle accidents in the US is still near 40,000 people per year, isn't it?


I don't know how you guys manage that feat.

Your population is about 12-14 times that of Oz, and the death rate is 40 time ours.


Overcrowded freeways, poor speed limit enforcement, the public's refusal to wear safety belts, mismatched vehicle collisions, vehicles designed to pass crash tests and not to perform well in real crashes, too easy to procure driver's licenses, lax drunk driving punishments, teenagers, cell phones, coffee.... I can go on and on.

 

[Kestas]

Yet I believe we're still the safest place to drive when you measure it in deaths per mile driven.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
Yet I believe we're still the safest place to drive when you measure it in deaths per mile driven.


Used to be, along with the U.K. Now others have caught up.

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: JTK

I don't know about that. India, China and countless other countries are pretty rough places to drive compared to the US.


Most of them are third-world countries. I excluded them because the USA is supposed to be first-world country.

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: Jethro
poor speed limit enforcement


Speed limit seems to be about the only traffic law that's enforced, when they bother to enforce it. VA state police likes to increase "enforcement" on holidays which consists of parking more troopers in the U-turn cuts in the median. They don't get to see the real good stuff when they're sitting in the median and not driving in traffic.

Incidentally, there was a thread recently here where the poster suggested that they shouldn't have gotten into an accident because they were going the speed limit AND the fact that they got into an accident must mean that the speed limit is too high.

I've often wondered how many people think that the only contribution to safe driving they need to make is matching the needle with the number, like the guy mentioned above.

 

[d00df00d]

I agree that there are tons of idiots in small cars and BMWs. Believe me, it crawls up my arse as well to see them cut in front of semis and other trucks that are just trying to follow at a safe distance, and I hope just as much as the truckers do that something will happen that will let them crush those cars like bugs.

There are three big differences between idiots in small cars and idiots in big vehicles:


1. A modern big vehicle, especially a modern SUV, makes the driver feel big-and-bad, dulls any sense of danger from road hazards and other drivers, and compromises visibility. A small car does the opposite.

2. A big vehicle will generally be less likely to avoid an accident and be more difficult to control in a panic maneuver or a low traction situation.

3. A large vehicle will cause a lot more damage in the event of an accident.


In other words, idiocy (and repeated idiocy) is much more likely and can have much worse consequences in a large SUV than in a little hatchback.

Mind you, I'm not talking about real, experienced truck drivers here. They are an entirely different story: they tend to be more aware of what's at stake, better able to control their vehicles, and smarter in traffic.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of most of the people driving vehicles weighing two tons or more.

Moreover, the dangers of large vehicles deserves more emphasis because the perception that they are safer than small cars is dangerous in and of itself in most minds: it feeds a trend toward larger and larger vehicles, which would end up being costly to everyone for no good reason.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: brianl703
I've often wondered how many people think that the only contribution to safe driving they need to make is matching the needle with the number, like the guy mentioned above.

Far, far too many.

 

[Jethro]

Originally Posted By: brianl703
Originally Posted By: Jethro
poor speed limit enforcement


Speed limit seems to be about the only traffic law that's enforced, when they bother to enforce it. VA state police likes to increase "enforcement" on holidays which consists of parking more troopers in the U-turn cuts in the median. They don't get to see the real good stuff when they're sitting in the median and not driving in traffic.

Incidentally, there was a thread recently here where the poster suggested that they shouldn't have gotten into an accident because they were going the speed limit AND the fact that they got into an accident must mean that the speed limit is too high.

I've often wondered how many people think that the only contribution to safe driving they need to make is matching the needle with the number, like the guy mentioned above.



Poor speed limit enforcement also includes BAD speed limit enforcement. Speed limits are set to tell people the safe speed to be traveling at on a certain road while also returning acceptable ride quality and fuel efficiency. That's why speed limits change as road type and condition changes. Yes, sometimes police abuse the system and set traps, but hey, more times than not they are catching speeders. On freeways I normally travel 5 to 8 miles over the speed limit. I never get more than a glance from police. People that whine about speeding tickets, more than likely, deserve them.

Speaking of unenforced traffic laws, tailgating (following too closely) is a HUGE problem on roads. It is illegal, yet I've never seen it enforced. Heck, I've seen drivers here in Memphis with the balls to tailgate cops! It's dangerous for everyone involved, it's stupid, it solves nothing, and it's sociopathic.
If the person in front of you is already doing the limit, you have no business harassing them to try to make them break the law. If they are under the limit, there are better ways to let them know you need to get around them.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
Next for some reason are BMW drivers.


I used to resemble that remark.

Assuming that they're not just jerks in BMWs ..it's due to actually being able to make headway in traffic instead of "lining up" like most of the mundanes do. You actually have a car that can do the mombo/limbo ..and accelerate at a rate that can find the gaps. It's a driver's car ..or at least was when I owned one. Not for the herd.

btw- it also made it easier to pull into the left/center lane when a truck was merging. Look/signal/SNAP! ..the road is yours.

Quote:
Yet I believe we're still the safest place to drive when you measure it in deaths per mile driven.


Only because we have so many cars over so many miles of roadway. I never liked that statistic. It implies that air travel is the safest ..but never calculates the "events per death" rate. Every start up is a potential fatality for both ..but there are millions more events for drivers than there will ever be for air travel. Death doesn't occur on a per mile basis. It occurs in one "event" of driving or flying. More events ..more fatalities.

I think that we'll all agree that when stuff like this occurs, it's probably better if all involved are in vehicles of like mass. The lower average mass, the lower the consequences of impact.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

There are those of you on here that drive your big suvs, trucks, and semis safely. Then there are those that think that just because they are bigger that they can harass you to go faster. One time I was on the interstate with three lanes. there was a Kia Sportage in the far right lane doing 55 maybe and the the other two lanes weren't going any faster than 60-65 because there was traffic. There was this trailer truck behind the Sportage honking at him to get out of his way when he was obeying the law. He had to merge to the left lane to let the truck go. If I were in that Sportage I would have just continued on with my business.

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: Jethro
That's correct, Titan. Over 40,000 people a year die in USA in automobile crashes/accidents.

I'm more afraid of latte sipping soccer moms on their cellphones in their SUVs than terrorism, disease, and murder combined.


Now that is saying something! I'm from Memphis and the murder rate is stupid high.

 

[Jethro]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
Originally Posted By: Jethro
That's correct, Titan. Over 40,000 people a year die in USA in automobile crashes/accidents.

I'm more afraid of latte sipping soccer moms on their cellphones in their SUVs than terrorism, disease, and murder combined.


Now that is saying something! I'm from Memphis and the murder rate is stupid high.


The murders are overwhelmingly gang related or they involve people that already know each other. There's not as much random violence as people think. But yeah, we are fighting with Detroit and DC for first place in murder rates!!!
That said, I've never felt in danger of murder while living here. I keep a gun in my apartment, but I never feel the need to carry one on me. I'm not out after midnight wandering around downtown like the dumb tourists that do and get mugged.

The drivers here are atrocious. There's a lot of wannabe rappers and such here too that have "pimped out" SUVs and trucks that also can't drive worth [censored].

 

[Gary Allan]

stupid is as stupid does

 

[Cutehumor]

Hey Jethro,

I grew up in Frayser. I have inlaws that drive on 3rd street to get to tunica and are appalled how bad Memphis is when they get to the casinos. Oh, I saw on the news somewhere that Memphis is ranked #8 as the most dangerous city in America

 

[Jethro]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
Hey Jethro,

I grew up in Frayser. I have inlaws that drive on 3rd street to get to tunica and are appalled how bad Memphis is when they get to the casinos. Oh, I saw on the news somewhere that Memphis is ranked #8 as the most dangerous city in America


Okay, now Frayser is pretty rough. The news is covering "home invasions" and scary stuff like that all the time from Frayser. Most of Memphis' bad reputation comes from there, North Memphis, and the other ghettos in South Memphis. Midtown and most of Downtown are pretty nice, and of course Cordova is too. Most of the crime here is black on black which is ironic because it's usually whites that are so afraid of it. But hey, I'm deviating WAY WAY WAY off topic now.

Funny you should mention Tunica. If you ever want to just go out and witness drunk driving, just pick any main road leading in or out of Tunica County, Mississippi, and drive on it.....

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I used to resemble that remark.

Assuming that they're not just jerks in BMWs ..it's due to actually being able to make headway in traffic instead of "lining up" like most of the mundanes do. You actually have a car that can do the mombo/limbo ..and accelerate at a rate that can find the gaps. It's a driver's car ..or at least was when I owned one. Not for the herd.

btw- it also made it easier to pull into the left/center lane when a truck was merging. Look/signal/SNAP! ..the road is yours.

Well said!

 

[oilyriser]

In previous years, the lowly Honda Civic had the lowest driver death rate of any vehicle monitored by the IIHS. This was before the bigger 2001+ version with the higher seating position, and higher centre of gravity.

 

[Jethro]

Death rate stats don't include a breakdown of average driver age, seatbelt usage, and location per death, therefore they should be taken with a grain of salt.