Brendan Miller Response to Brandon Whitelaw

Allow me to point out several errors in your statements. By your logic, heavier cars of the 60s would be safer than cars today, which "everyone knows." In reality, weight has little to due with the survivability of the accident, and those mentioned safety features account for a majority of the reason of the higher survivability rate today. While your logic that when two vehicles collide, the heavier vehicle will decelerate less is correct, it has little to do with safety. In fact, speed it self often has less to do with accident survivability than people perceive. To realize this, all one has to do is watch a modern F-1, CART, or Indy race to see that accidents with unmovable concrete walls happening at well over 100 MPH often result in little to no injury. This is contrary to their sub 1-ton weight. Why? Because they energy from the accident is absorbed by the vehicle rather than the occupant. In a head on collision, the stiff frame rail in trucks (including unit on frame SUVs) often deforms little, transferring the energy from the collision to the occupant, causing extensive injury. In side impact, this same frame rail is so central in the structure, that it is often unaffected in side impact, meaning that all the deformation is happening in the cabin, where the occupants are seated, also a bad situation. Most cars on the other hand are designed to deform a great deal in front and rear impact, so that the energy is absorbed by the vehicle. In side impact, a majority of the vehicles strength is along the sills of the vehicle (what you have to step over to get into the car). These sills will often bend in a side impact accident, absorbing the energy while minimizing intrusion near the passengers central body. In severe accidents this results in leg injuries, but this type of injury is much more survivable than torso injuries. In any vehicle compromises are made, but cars tend to have a inherently better safety design. And I won't even get into crash avoidance, roll-over, etcetera here.

Brendan Miller