5 ms·
Not only that, since they're heavier a crash into a person at the same speed will be more devastating even ignoring the higher impact position. They are also m
by philjohn 5y ago
Not only that, since they're heavier a crash into a person at the same speed will be more devastating even ignoring the higher impact position.
They are also more prone to roll, which dispenses with the "well I'm safer!", and have been shown to cause far more fatalities and life-changing injuries when involved in multi-car pile ups.
That's before we even get to the ecological cost (initial construction and then keeping it running), European infrastructure that wasn't designed for cars of that size etc. etc. etc.
- bscphil 5y agoIs any car small enough that the ratio of car-weight to human-weight becomes low enough to protect a human in the event of a crash? By the time a human body has managed to significantly change the momentum of the car, I would expect the damage to be done. The real question, I would think, is whether a larger car takes longer to brake to a stop than a smaller car, or do the quality of the brakes go up linearly with the weight of the car.
- vvillena 5y agoAt standard speeds, braking is traction-limited: brakes have enough power to block the wheels. Usually, heavier cars also have wider tires and are still traction-limited when braking, and usually braking distances are about the same. SUVs make lots of tradeoffs, but stopping power isn't usually one of them.