http://autos.msn.com/advice/CRArt.as...tentid=4024763

I was reading this article on "Driver Fatality Risks Vary by Vehicle" and read this...


Midsized and very large luxury vehicles have the lowest death rates among vehicle types. The data shows that heavy cars are generally safer. But in some cases, bigger isn't necessarily safer.

• The driver death rate is higher in midsized sports cars than small ones. Counter to what might be expected, sports cars as a whole have a lower risk of fatality than two-door coupes, which have rates that range from 103 to 137 per million registered vehicle years.
• The only "very large" SUV listed, the Ford Excursion, has a rate of 115 per million registered vehicle years, more than any "large" SUV.

So who hasn't been driving carefully?

I certainly feel safe in my X, having been in an accident (as passenger) last November in a small car and shattered my foot, ankle, and tibia and needed the roof removed to get me out.

 

I think its pretty funny that people listen and actually take advice from MSN auto's When they listen to msn and go out and buy a two door coupe and then get side swiped by an excursion, when there sitting in the hospital, there gonna wish that they spent the extra money (gas and truck wise) on the excursion.

 

As long as you dont crash at a very high rate of speed id say your pretty safe in an X. Get squirley over 60 and your in for a nasty ride id imagine though.

 

I plan not to swerve . Let the small car do that . A veer of & attempt to correct back is a Guraanteed 3-4 times roll-over. I agree the higher the speed the greater are your chances of getting hurt or killed.
We need simulator checks to show people the dangers in Hi -Roll Center Vehicles. A waiver on your drivers license showing you've had simulator training in vehicles with dangerous traits.
Pilot's have to do it ,why not drivers. Everytime a SUV passes me 20 - 30 miles over the limit & I see it has a family in it I wonder do they have any idea what they're doing to them .

 

I hate reports that create a whole new 'statistic' and/or way of looking at it. The "average death rate per million registered vehicle years" is retarded and confusing. This study (I use that word loosely) was obviously bought and paid for by someone who needed it.

Look at this one glaring inconsistency with actual physics. I don't have the energy or time to go in depth reading that drivel.

"Some 4WD vehicles did better than their 2WD counterparts, which might reflect the lower center of gravity of some 4WD vehicles." The LOWER center of gravity!?!

 

Yeah, I can see where that might be possible. If a 4WD model sits 1" to 2" higher than its 2WD equivalent, AND several hundred pounds of 4WD drivetrain parts have been added down low, it is feasible that one or two 4WD models may actually experience a lower CG. Of course, that assumes the vehicle is empty ... not loaded down with passengers and gear.

 

I see what you're saying but it is contrary to what all the safety ***** have been saying about 4WD SUV's for years. The high center of gravity creates a roll-over risk greater than cars and their 2WD counterparts.

Too much conflicting "science".

Monsta's key to safety: Don't drive like a retard.

 

Does that mean since i have 2wd that i can fish tail all i want and not flip, even if i catch really dry ground?

 

haha I live in texas, so I don't get much snow/ice, but we did a few months ago, and I was telling my dad about how I could get around safer than him because I had 4x4 for the ice. Then he told me that EVERY car has 4 wheel brakes, so the 4x4 is only a way to get my A$$ going faster quicker to get in even bigger trouble ...I guess dads are always gonna win

But I do want to mention one safety thing:
Other than rollovers (which your likely toast anyway if the roof goes out) IMHO bigger cars will always have the advantage over smaller cars (just basic physics). The only exception is airbags. IMHO, a smaller car with more airbas is arguably safer than a bigger one without (especially side impacts and stuff) With that said, I understand why the older X's (like my 2000) dont have more than 2 airbags, but I am appalled at Ford's lack of initiative to put more advanced safety features (side curtain airbags etc...) on their later trucks. Even the new redesigned 08's still don't have them. (Dodge trucks do )

Haha sorry for the rant. My dad was t-boned in the driver's door (in an audi), with the person hitting him going 45ish, and hit again after he spun around. all 3 cars were totaled, and one of the ppl that hit him was hospitalized. He walked away unhurt, he thinks in large part because of side curtain airbags and a car designed with safety in mind. <<lol, so if I'm a little of a safety nut, thats why

Isaac

 

I fell very safe in my Excursion. IMO big cars on frames (such as Crown Vics, and Grand Marquis) are far more safe than smaller cars. I was hit head on by a drunk driver in my fathers '98 marquis a few years back, and I walked away with minor injuries, the dork that hit me was in a '04 Honda Odessy minivan, he had to be life flighted from the scene, and was really messed up. Both he and I had been wearing seatbelts too. I am in the process of buying my teenager an Excursion of his own. He wanted a mustang, but I feel he will be safer in something bigger.

 

Ur buying an ex for your son? Dang ur a nice dad hahah Id take that ex over a stang any day.

 

BIGGER IS BETTER!!

There is no way I would ever put my wife and 4 kids in anything smaller than a Suburban. I had a guy run a red light in a full size F-350 1 ton truck towing a flatbed trailer and hit me in the side of my 4x4 3/4 ton Sub and ripped the Sub off the frame on the side of the impact. He was going 40mph and there were no skid marks!! The truck hit directly into the bottom of my door and I walked away with not even a single scratch. I did have whiplash preety bad and my back and neck tightened up very bad for a couple of days, but since then it's Subs or Excursions all of the way. The F-350 thankfully was a 2wd and hit my door down at the base of my seat which speaks volumes about having a lifted truck if you get hit in the side!! Large SUV's rule especially the EX!! Hopefully I never have to share this same story about the EX!!

 

I am nice, but I'm the mom. Hubby wanted to give him the '71 Dart that he restored, but there is no way I'm letting my 17 year old have that!! It goes just a little to fast and has no airbags. Plus the insurance rates are just crazy for it.

 

Well the insurance rates aren't that spectacular for the Excursion either.

We need to all take a step back and remember that no amount of steel compensates for good driving techniques and skills. Of course there's always "the other guy" and I most certainly agree with bigger is better in that scenario. But bigger also brings with it different needs in driving skill sets that aren't usually taught/learned in Driver's Ed tooling around town in a compact "Learner's" car.

 

I agree! Skill has alot to do with it.
The Excursion will be about $300 less a year for me to insure him in than the dart, or mustang. My son learned to drive in my Excursion, and his fathers F-250. He even passed the Ohio drivers exam last year in it. That is no easy feat. I have a few decades of driving experience, and I'm not sure I could do it. My son bought himself an old beat up Ford Ranger when he turned 16, and I like to call it the Danger Ranger. It has to go.