The 7 most unsafe cars on American roads

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Axeman
I’m not a big conspiracy nut at all, but large cars get a really bad reputation due to the new eco religion in America.


I think eco cars are fat and overweight due to safety and emissions religions! You can't find a 1700 lb geo metro anymore.

I like the interior room in my 91 volvo and 95 saturn along with their smallish outsides. Translation: vertical doors with thin panels. Both cars are not "modern safe" but were safe enough in their day.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: tgferg67
It is a mistake to only think about multi-vehicle accidents when coming to vehicle safety. Pickup trucks have a high percentage of single vehicle accident fatalities. Large pickup trucks are no safer than a midsize car - by fatality statistics.

IIHS driver death rate by model


I wonder, in a chicken- egg thing, if trucks are victims of their drivers. Some drivers are working 14 hours a day doing physical stuff and are tired. Some trucks are driven 40k miles a year from job to job and see little maintenance. I was shocked when I used to work in a tire shop over how many five year old trucks looked okay from above but were junk underneath. Especially front end stuff like drag links, tie rod ends and idlers-- lots of idlers! Not all were plow trucks either-- I know that kills anything under a one-ton.

 

[mattr0fact]

Originally Posted By: tgferg67
Originally Posted By: Axeman

I’m not a big conspiracy nut at all, but large cars get a really bad reputation due to the new eco religion in America. I sometimes think that these pickup/SUV crash test ratings might just be a little exaggerated.


It is a mistake to only think about multi-vehicle accidents when coming to vehicle safety. Pickup trucks have a high percentage of single vehicle accident fatalities. Large pickup trucks are no safer than a midsize car - by fatality statistics.

IIHS driver death rate by model
I call single vehicle accidents "being an idiot". These accidents typically involve a drunk/asleep driver smashing into a bridge pylon at 80MPH which is deadly in any situation. Anyway, as a couple people have mentioned before in this thread - I don't completely trust anything that comes from the IIHS (or anything else with the word "insurance" in it's name).

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: mpvue
accident survival rates are very hard to predict; my mother died in a car accident last year; she was in the back seat, no seatbelt and she was thrown from the car (Honda CR-V)when it rolled.
the 2 front occupants just had some bruises and were home in a few hours.
many of us have been under the impression that the back seat is safer, but that's assuming you stay in the car. or maybe not. the front occupants have more air bags, but you can never really predict the outcome.

I'm sorry about the loss of your mother. I think though in general, wearing or not wearing a seatbelt is a much much larger safety factor than the vehicle itself. I had a little shiney side down (half roll)incident with my Neon on a track last fall and with no seatbelt I could've been easily killed, in an accident minor enough that I drove the car home and am still driving it...

 

[mechanicx]

I'm sorry to hear about your mother. Seatbelts or not, I think rollover and rear collision performance is important (as is side impact). A vehicle being rolled over, or crushed from a rear impact on the freeway can be outside of the driver's control. A lot of vehicle are vulnerable in the roof and rear.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
Are you talking about this?


Yep, that's the one.

As for those who are mentioning single vehicle truck fatalities, I'm not trying to be prejudiced against rednecks (I'm in Saskatchewan, I'm one myself!), but when one combines alcohol and country roads and no seatbelt use, one tends to see single vehicle fatalities, and trucks are ubiquitous in such an environment.

There is way too much drinking and driving in this province. It's bad enough in the cities, but it's worse on a higher speed country road with no taxi service and more distant medical care.

 

[ltslimjim]

^The fact is people do it everywhere(drink and drive), it's a disease of society.

 

[Garak]

Absolutely. Up here, though, if there's a single vehicle rollover at a strange hour and there's a fatality, 9 times out of 10, it's going to be alcohol related and a pickup. That can definitely skew the statistics.

This province has historically had the highest drunk driving rate in the country.