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Is there a way to remain safe driving in these places besides also buying a large heavy vehicle? I despise gas guzzlers but my sedan may not survive an accident

Is there a way to remain safe driving in these places besides also buying a large heavy vehicle? I despise gas guzzlers but my sedan may not survive an accident.

Retric 8y ago
Vehicle size has minimal impact on collision safty. People regularly survive collisions with Semi Trucks for example. Also those SUV’s often look huge, but a Honda Accord weighs 2/3 as much as a Chevy Suburban before adding passengers. Weight reduces acceleration and fuel economy so they use body styles that look huge while being mostly hollow.
jiveturkey 8y ago
honestly, who cares if your car survives? will you survive? if you have a car made within the last 20 years, most likely yes.
rootusrootus 8y ago
I'm reaching back a ways to my college days, but as I remember, two objects can have masses 2x apart (e.g. 3500 pound car, 7000 pound truck) and for all practical purposes it doesn't really change the collision dynamics much. Something about velocity squared, as I recall. So ... buy a Subaru Forester, I guess. Or another CUV. Taller bumper so you don't get run over by a pickup, but still a smallish vehicle.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  KE=0.5MV^2 Vehicle and cargo (you) damage is more strongly related to force than kinetic energy. You can be going 150mph and stop just fine by using the brakes to convert that kinetic energy into thermal energy. Using a concrete barrier and the vehicle to dissipate that force throughout the structure of the vehicle would work as well as far as getting rid of the kinetic energy but will probably have a less desirable outcome for the contents of the vehicle. Same energy in both cases, way different forces involved. It's like how a sledgehammer hits with more force the more rigid the thing you're hitting is. Also it's not the acceleration that kills you[1], it's the bouncing off things in the cabin that kills you. [1]http://www.ejectionsite.com/stapp.htm http://www.ejectionsite.com/stapp.htm (8th to last paragraph)

Is there a way to remain safe driving in these places besides also buying a large heavy vehicle? I despise gas guzzlers but my sedan may not survive an accident.

Retric 8y ago

Vehicle size has minimal impact on collision safty. People regularly survive collisions with Semi Trucks for example. Also those SUV’s often look huge, but a Honda Accord weighs 2/3 as much as a Chevy Suburban before adding passengers. Weight reduces acceleration and fuel economy so they use body styles that look huge while being mostly hollow.

jiveturkey 8y ago

honestly, who cares if your car survives? will you survive? if you have a car made within the last 20 years, most likely yes.

rootusrootus 8y ago

I'm reaching back a ways to my college days, but as I remember, two objects can have masses 2x apart (e.g. 3500 pound car, 7000 pound truck) and for all practical purposes it doesn't really change the collision dynamics much. Something about velocity squared, as I recall. So ... buy a Subaru Forester, I guess. Or another CUV. Taller bumper so you don't get run over by a pickup, but still a smallish vehicle.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
KE=0.5MV^2 Vehicle and cargo (you) damage is more strongly related to force than kinetic energy. You can be going 150mph and stop just fine by using the brakes to convert that kinetic energy into thermal energy. Using a concrete barrier and the vehicle to dissipate that force throughout the structure of the vehicle would work as well as far as getting rid of the kinetic energy but will probably have a less desirable outcome for the contents of the vehicle. Same energy in both cases, way different forces involved. It's like how a sledgehammer hits with more force the more rigid the thing you're hitting is. Also it's not the acceleration that kills you[1], it's the bouncing off things in the cabin that kills you. [1]http://www.ejectionsite.com/stapp.htm http://www.ejectionsite.com/stapp.htm (8th to last paragraph)