3 ms·

I’m curious where you source the claim that station wagons were safer than SUVs.

• bobthepanda 2y ago
  it depends on how you're defining "safe" and it's hard to get comparisons in 2024 since SUVs have almost completely wiped out station wagons in a product in the US. Generally speaking though, there are a couple ways in which SUVs are less safe in certain conditions: * SUVs sit higher and have a taller center of gravity than station wagons and are more susceptible to rollovers: https://www.avrek.com/blog/how-does-a-rollover-happen-and-what-you-can-do-to-avoid-it/ https://www.avrek.com/blog/how-does-a-rollover-happen-and-wh... * SUVs are more dangerous to other road users because of how tall they are. If you are a pedestrian, cyclist, or sitting in a lower car, then the main part of an SUV is aimed higher at your torso or head. This also creates a self-fulfilling cycle where the only way to be safe against an SUV is to be in an SUV yourself. Road fatality rates have stalled in the US while in other countries they are decreasing, and a big portion of that is that pedestrian fatalities have increased by 68% since 2011. https://smartgrowthamerica.org/pedestrian-fatalities-at-historic-high/ https://smartgrowthamerica.org/pedestrian-fatalities-at-hist... SUVs represent a oversized proportion of the vehicles striking and killing pedestrians. https://www.codot.gov/safety/shift-into-safe-news/2022/august/study-suvs-light-trucks-pose-significant-risk-to-pedestrian-crashes-involving-children https://www.codot.gov/safety/shift-into-safe-news/2022/augus...