Thoughts on Safety Features?

[The Critic]

How important are vehicle safety features to you?

By safety features, not only am including the controversial stability control and anti-lock brakes, but also features such as advanced chassis design, and side and curtain airbags.

I do not hear much discussion around here in regards to the importance of safety features in cars, especially airbags, so I am interested in hearing how high those items rank on a BITOGer's priority list during car shopping.

 

[StevieC]

How safe a vehicle is, is very important to me because I use my vehicle for work and I spend 8-10 hours a day in it in some of the worst weather you can imagine.

I like that I have Airbags, ABS, Traction-Control, locking seat-belts when being whipped forward.

I wish I had side-impact air-bags that my mom's way cheaper Kia Spectra has and my more expensive SUV doesn't but I guess cost was an issue.

I have had to use my ABS/TCS multiple times and let me tell you how well it works in bad weather to keep the vehicle from spinning out of control. Not due to my bad driving but vehicles in front of me spinning out that I'm trying to avoid or other accident avoidance situations.

Now that said I would never go out and get a vehicle just based on safety. To me that is high up on the list, but I need a vehicle that is built to last, has a cheap long term cost of ownership, and fits me as a tall person.

 

[The Critic]

I will say that honestly, safety features have never been an important consideration to me, personally, in any of our family's vehicles. To my parents, they probably view it the same way. When we purchased the Altima, the word "safety" never came up at any point during the discussion. However, when my friend was shopping for a new car, the reason why I really pushed the Mazda 3 was because it came with standard stability control but the Civic did not.

I think most of us can agree that good, defensive driving practices are far more important than any safety feature. However, accidents do happen, which is why safety features are still a consideration. But hopefully, with good driving practices, you won't be in a situation where advanced safety features will be needed.

 

[Jim 5]

I have never really considered it, but there have been times when I've had the chance to "build" a car online that I would likely buy. If I had the chance to tick off a side curtain airbag option for around $1000, I would definitely pay it.

The only other safety consideration is that I wouldn't drive I micro car the size of a smart car on the highway (or freeway) in the winter (in canada or anywhere where significant winter storms come up). This is a time when I seriously think about crash survivability, as these are a common reality due to extreme weather conditions).

 

[JHZR2]

Safety is an important thing because it is one's own neck on the line, and also because insurance costs are somewhat related.

I don't mind small cars, light cars, etc., but at the same time, a slightly heavier car is probably the best advantage one can have, because everything else is just trying to cheat physics.

It doesnt mean that you cannot engineer around it to some point, but in the end, F=MA.

 

[sciphi]

Safety was a big selling point for my fiancee when she bought her 09 Honda Fit. She liked the excellent crash ratings and lots of airbags. I wish it had traction/stability control for the winter, but a set of narrow 185 width Blizzaks works magic there.

My cars I could care less about the features they have, as long as they perform well in real-world crashes. It seems some manufacturers can make a safe car on paper that does poorly in the real world, and vice versa.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
I will say that honestly, safety features have never been an important consideration to me, personally, in any of our family's vehicles. To my parents, they probably view it the same way. When we purchased the Altima, the word "safety" never came up at any point during the discussion. However, when my friend was shopping for a new car, the reason why I really pushed the Mazda 3 was because it came with standard stability control but the Civic did not.

I think most of us can agree that good, defensive driving practices are far more important than any safety feature. However, accidents do happen, which is why safety features are still a consideration. But hopefully, with good driving practices, you won't be in a situation where advanced safety features will be needed.


And I think this is why the impose minimum safety standards for people that don't think highly of it.

I hear you on the defensive driving, but trust me you would be thankful for air bags, seat-belts and a car that crumbles on impact to absorb the energy instead of sending it into you.

I know I was when I totaled my Tempo hitting a deer and walking away with minimal scratches/bruising.

 

[d00df00d]

Good chassis design: Absolute must-have.

ABS: Proper multi-channel ABS with brakeforce distribution should be on all cars. Anything less, I could take it or leave it.

Stability Control: Don't care either way. It's not a bad thing to have, but no decent modern car with modern tires should ever need it unless you are driving in such a way that you deserve to crash.

Airbags: Gravy. I wouldn't mind having any number in any locations that the automaker sees fit, but I'd buy a car without them in some circumstances.

Seatbelt pretensioners: Good feature. I probably wouldn't seek them out, but they are a bonus.

Active headrests: Great feature.

Brake pedal throttle override: Necessary in an automatic... but I will never buy an automatic unless I lose a leg.

 

[fdcg27]

Critic,
They are called "accidents" because that is what they are.
We have had two of our cars rear-ended, one quite hard, in the past twelve years.
Things happen.
People make mistakes.
Safety features are therfore desirable, unless you are one of the few who truly are invunerable and infallible.

 

[sicko]

Safety was a big factor to me when buying my car. I eliminated some vehicles from consideration b/c their crash test ratings weren't high enough.

Safety and reliability were the two biggest factors when I was car shopping (in that order). Practicality and having AWD/4WD were the next two. I drive an '09 Subaru Forester b/c of this, (well that and my sick love for Subarus).

 

[mechanicx]

If I could buy a new car without any safety features besides seatbelts(other than designed in structural safety like crumple zones, energy absorbing steering column etc, in other words no ABS, airbags, stability control etc) and no emission controls I would.

Not that I'm against safety features and emission as I see they have their value. I would just like to have at least one new bare bones mechanicals sporty car. Airbags their self have been known to cuase various injuries and even deaths themselves in earlier designs and in certain models.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Side airbags are nice, but I would take a strong structure first. For example the S2000 http://www.euroncap.com/tests/honda_s2000_2002/121.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_SDYYN8OK0

And safety is pretty important since when we got the Camry I helped choose the one with side curtain and torso airbags and ABS.

 

[CBR.worm]

In the past I went out of my way to avoid buying cars with ABS VDC, etc and didn't like airbags.

Today the systems work so well and non-intrusively (in most sporty cars) that there is not much of a drawback to having the systems in place other than the complexity and weight. I still don't like airbags, but if I hit a wall and it saves my life my story will change.

For my wife and kid I would order the car with 52 airbags if I could.

 

[tonycarguy]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d

Stability Control: Don't care either way. It's not a bad thing to have, but no decent modern car with modern tires should ever need it unless you are driving in such a way that you deserve to crash.


There is no modern tire that won't easily lose traction in rain. Traction control is important because the typical driver, in a panic, will tend to steer and slam the brakes (bad move). You don't even have to be driving fast or recklessly in the rain; it is very easy to lose control if someone cuts you off and you panic.

I like stability control and ABS because they're PREVENTATIVE safety measures, unlike a stronger chasis or seat belts.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: tonycarguy
There is no modern tire that won't easily lose traction in rain.

Not my experience. In all the cars my family owns, driving sanely for conditions, any decent tire will have plenty of traction for an emergency stop.


Originally Posted By: tonycarguy
Traction control is important because the typical driver, in a panic, will tend to steer and slam the brakes (bad move).

1. Traction control does nothing for braking. It is only for acceleration. Perhaps you meant stability control?

2. The ill effects of steering under hard braking are largely mitigated by a good ABS system.

3. Most passenger cars nowadays are set up to steer pretty well under braking.


Originally Posted By: tonycarguy
I like stability control and ABS because they're PREVENTATIVE safety measures, unlike a stronger chasis or seat belts.

A stronger chassis provides more stable, predictable, and responsive handling and braking. I would say that's at least somewhat pertinent to active safety.


Mind you, I'm not saying stability control is useless; just that it's a crutch to lean on if you overdrive your car in the conditions, which you shouldn't be doing. Modern cars handle so well that you'd have to be really reckless to put yourself in a situation where stability control will kick in, and at that point you're probably going to crash anyway. I have a hard time imagining a scenario in which it would save you from something that you couldn't reasonably have prevented by other means. Maybe you and I just have different ideas of what is reasonable on that point...

 

[sciphi]

ABS has saved my Buick's tail back when it had [censored]-poor tires on an icy road. It kept me from sliding into a busy intersection since there was enough room to slow at ABS speed. Without ABS I would have kept sliding. I'm not a good enough driver to properly use non-ABS brakes in panic situations.

I've had some fairly awesome tires that refused to give up wet grip except when the road was under inches of water. I've also driven some tires that could not grip in the wet. The former are on my car now.

Give me all the reasonable safety features I can get. And add a lot of caution, along with grippy tires and powerful brakes.

 

[rjundi]

I like stability control. As you can really save you around where I live with black ice and in wintery roads starting to freeze up. It works.

However I don't really think much about the features. I did not realize my Subaru had rear and front air bags till I was cleaning and noticed a label in the panels.

 

[rpn453]

A strong structure and decent side and front crash test ratings are important to me. When I was looking for an older SUV for a work vehicle, I ruled out some due to poor crash test ratings. Three star was my minimum. I wouldn't buy a new car with only a three star rating though, if such a thing even exists anymore.

Side airbags are important to me. I'll pay extra for that. I'd rather not pay for front airbags, but they're on everything anyway.

ABS is not a safety feature to me, as it does as much harm on snow and dirt as it helps in the dry and wet. If I had the option, I would only pay extra for it if it had an on/off switch on the dash.

I don't want traction control or stability control. I wouldn't buy a car in which I couldn't permanently disable it from interfering with my winter driving style, assuming I had other options.

If I had a family and decent money, I'd want them to be in a significantly larger car than I currently drive (Mazda3). Not something tall though. A 4000 lb sport sedan/wagon would be about right. Handling and non-electronic rollover resistance are as important to me as weight when it comes to safety.

Tires are also a very important safety feature to me. I wouldn't use all-seasons through a real winter, and I wouldn't take a summer-use tire all the way down to the legal minimum for tread depth. Wet traction is drastically reduced well before that point.

 

[TurboWagon]

I love my Volvo tank.

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
ABS has saved my Buick's tail back when it had [censored]-poor tires on an icy road. It kept me from sliding into a busy intersection since there was enough room to slow at ABS speed. Without ABS I would have kept sliding. I'm not a good enough driver to properly use non-ABS brakes in panic situations.

I've had some fairly awesome tires that refused to give up wet grip except when the road was under inches of water. I've also driven some tires that could not grip in the wet. The former are on my car now.

Give me all the reasonable safety features I can get. And add a lot of caution, along with grippy tires and powerful brakes.

As much as ABS sometimes helps Ive found often it can be as much of a hindrance to stopping. Ive had washboard road activate it and extend the stopping distance over what it would have been. Almost rear ended someone once because this parking lot had a speed bump right inside the entrance and the person in front of me jumped on the brakes right as my front tires were coming off that and the ABS went NUTS! I got [censored], parked it right there off to the side, popped the hood, and removed the ABS relay. Ran like that for a couple months until I let my Mom borrow it and I put it back in for her. Gravel roads too, like, dont even bother, it will never stop.
On dry, flat pavement, it is awesome. It will make the tires smoke without actually locking up and skidding. I think because its applying the same tolerance for lock-up to everything it isnt always optimal. I think for certain surfaces it needs to be looser, maybe. Im not sure.. But, its dumb, it doesn't know what you are driving on.. So when it works, it works really well. But, when it doesnt, youll know it, because it really blows too.
As far as traction control, it was an option on my car. It doesnt have it. Just as well, as I would disable it. I pretty much steer with my right foot in the winter, anyways. Ive found with a good set of snows and manual 2nd it will almost plow snow.
Side air bags were also an option on my car, IIRC. One of the few things I wish it had. I probably cant retrofit it either like most of the other things I want to change.