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Car Size Counts
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“If you‘ve got a thousand dollars to invest in safety features, spend it on buying a larger vehicle,” says Kim Hazelbaker.
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Mr. Hazelbaker is a senior vice president of the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), linked nonprofit public service organizations that have been evaluating crash statistics and conducting automobile crash tests for over 20 years. (Both groups are funded primarily by vehicle insurance companies.)
MSN Autos examined the latest reports published by HLDI and found ample reason to agree with the comment:
- Of the 20 vehicles (including passenger cars, station wagons, vans, sport utilities and pickup trucks) having the highest number of injury claims, 17 were small passenger cars or sport-utility vehicles and three were midsize passenger cars. None was a large vehicle.
- Of the 20 vehicles with the fewest number of injury claims, 18 were large (9 pickup trucks, 4 sport utilities, 2 station wagons, 2 passenger cars, and one van) and 2 were intermediate-size sport-utility vehicles. No vehicle was small.
Latest figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also show that larger cars are safer. In that study:
- Fatality rates for occupants of subcompact cars (cars with a wheelbase 95 to 99 inches) involved in crashes are practically 10 percent higher than for occupants of full-size vehicles (110- to 114-inch wheelbase).
- The difference is nearly 15 percent between occupants of minicompacts (those with wheelbases under 95 inches) and the largest passenger vehicles (those with wheelbases 115 inches and over).
In a nutshell, small vehicles account for more than twice as many occupant deaths as large vehicles, according to HDLI figures. Why are large vehicles safer? “The laws of physics dictate that, everything else being equal, the larger the vehicle the lower the crash forces reaching the occupant compartment,” explains Hazelbaker. This is because the energy in an impact has a larger area over which to spread and therefore dissipates more readily.
But don‘t equate weight and size, cautions Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the nonprofit consumer advocacy group, Center for Auto Safety. Quoting the late Dr. William Haddon, former administrator both of NHTSA and IIHS, Ditlow points out that “size is beneficial, weight is hostile” when it comes to crash safety. A heavy vehicle, while it tends to push lighter vehicles out of the way in a crash, also delivers more impact and therefore can inflict more harm.
The Bottom Line
The safest vehicles are large and lightweight, designed especially to absorb crash impact without causing it. Large, heavy vehicles are safer than smaller vehicles for occupants but their weight usually contributes to overall damage in a crash. Small vehicles are the most dangerous for occupants but the safest for others and for property, especially if the vehicle is lightweight.
In the market for a new car? MSN Autos is pleased to provide you with information and services designed to save you time, money and hassle. Click to research prices and specifications on any new car on the market or click to get a free price quote through MSN Autos' New-Car Buying Service.
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