3 ms·
Weight of the car is not as big of a factor as people think. Per the IIHS, the size of crumple zones actually may have more impact than the weight: https://www.
by pclmulqdq 3y ago
Weight of the car is not as big of a factor as people think. Per the IIHS, the size of crumple zones actually may have more impact than the weight: https://www.iihs.org/topics/vehicle-size-and-weight https://www.iihs.org/topics/vehicle-size-and-weight
That might suggest that a car like a Tesla which is very heavy but can't crush very much thanks to the battery has an unclear safety benefit, but a truck does.
Realistically, practically nobody is going to get into a fatal crash anyway, though, so if you honestly attempt to price the difference in safety, you may come out to a few dollars. Certainly not enough to justify buying an SUV over a civic.
- nytesky 3y agoLiterally the first line: A bigger, heavier vehicle provides better crash protection than a smaller, lighter one, assuming no other differences between them Sure we want a car with crumble zones and airbags, but physics really comes into play: when a car weighs 3x as much as yours, in a collision you will be suddenly accelerating backwards. Brain injury at the very least is highly possible. A Tesla X weighs as much as a Chevy Tahoe - and while large SUVs are fairly common they usually smaller like highlanders and the like. It’s fine to price the probability low, but when you are dealing with extremely high consequences to your children, it’s hard to have a dispassionate view of the probabilities.
- shafyy 3y agoBe that as it may, looking at the comments here, this is clearly not how people make purchasing decisions.