David,
You get my emotions really churning on that issue. I really hate the
way we accept the fact that we now have, "disposable Cars". Frankly, I
believe that Crumple zones are the biggest ripoff that has ever been
concocted. The only ones who benefit form that are the body shops and
more often the new car dealers.
Give me a strong car any day, I'll take my chances on the energy
absorbing properties of the car.
Joe Curry
David Stevely wrote:
>
> The reason that the modern car had crumpled (as it is meant to do) is that the
> front of the car was doing it's job correctly and absorbing the energy of the
> impact. I am sure that the passenger compartment was still intact. The MGB
>on
> the other hand is a lot 'stronger' and so the body had not absorbed the energy
> of the impact, the occupants had!!!
>
> I know which I would prefer.
>
> Dave Stevely
> (Former Body Design Engineer for Nissan)
>
> However I still love old cars!
>
> Joe Curry wrote:
>
> > This whole safety issue hit home yesterday when I was driving home. As
> > I started around a bend in the road, I noticed all sorts of flares
> > burning on both sides of the road. As I rounded the bend, I saw the
> > rear of a chrome bumper MGB on one side and the front of some
> > nondescript modern car on the other. The modern car's bumper and grill
> > were well caved-in. As I passed the MGB, I noticed that very little
> > damage had occurred to it even though the accident was obviously a
> > head-on.
> >
> > So, I must conclude that although safety standards have been updated in
> > recent years, the cars are not necessarily any stronger because of it.
> >
> > Just a passing observation.
> >
> > Joe Curry
> >
> > Reed Mideke wrote:
> > >
> > > Hmmm... All the child seats I've seen are secured by the seatbelt,
> > > and not attached in any other way to the car or seat. Thus the
> > > preference for non inertial reel belts.
> > >
> > > I'd say in a crash, a small light car is much more likely to get
> > > squished than a big heavy one. I'd hesitate to say a spit (equiped with
> > > a roll bar) would fair worse than say a geo metro, but the ~30 mph
> > > headon I had in a 67 Lincoln Continental would have been a different
> > > story in my spit (or a geo)...
> > >
> > > As jonmac points out, you can't predict what car is going to fair best
> > > in an accident: SUVs are much more likly to flip, and little FWD cars much
> > > more likely to spin, and a viper is much more likely to hit some object
> > > a 200mph.
> > >
> > > Maybe a hummer is the way to go... but since it's twice as wide as
> > > a spit, you're more likely to hit something.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Reed Mideke rmideke@interbase.com
> >
> > --
> > "If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort."
> >
> > -- Dave Weinbaum in National Enquirer
--
"If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort."
-- Dave Weinbaum in National Enquirer
|