3rd gen safety concern

You know, I find myself disagreeing with just about all your posts. I was beginning to think you're my nemesis. Then, you write something like this and you become my kindred spirit. I've been trying to say the same thing for 3 posts now but none as succinct as you just did. I'm also relieved there is someone out there that doesn't take things at face value, namely bigger is safer.

 

Not sure how much there is to disagree with outside of FHOP. I know the Prius in and out, that's why I am here. I don't say what people want to hear, I tell them how it is hopefully so they can fix things if there is a problem.

A logical person cannot argue that a larger vehicle is safer than a smaller vehicle. It is very simple, f=ma. In a crash, the 'a' is determined by what you are hitting and how much the impact object resists your force upon it. A large vehicle or a small vehicle can both be unsafe if the vehicle cannot consume some of the force. In an unoccupied vehicle, that's OK. But human flesh is not as resilient as sheet metal and going from 60mph to 0mph in almost no time is a massive shock. The vehicle needs to absorb the damage, hence crumple zones, and then send as much of the the excess energy through the pillars and away from the passenger compartment. When your car crumples from 60mph to 30mph before it hits something uncrincklable that is a huge factor in safety. We can see that two "tanks" of vehicles are both unsafe, but then the larger the vehicle the less safe it is when built with identical deformation properties as the smaller vehicle. That's why you don't have solid bumpers or rigid bodies on today's cars.

This also does not say that a smaller vehicle is safer than a larger one. It just says that you can't make that conclusion. A poorly designed small vehicle will perform less desirably than a well designed larger vehicle. Just like a poorly designed large vehicle will perform less desirably than a well designed larger vehicle. You can see this in crash test ratings where vehicles of all shapes and sizes perform really well, and other vehicles of other shapes and sizes perform poorly.

The only time a large whatever vehicle will win is when you have so much force that you break through the object you are hitting because f is just too damn high. Hence "battering rams of death".

 

All the well I'll take my chances with the larger safer vehicle than the smaller safer vehicle thank you.

Both being equally safe the larger will take a bigger hit and not impact passangers due to larger crumble zone

 

The fellow that shot the video says that the car was his best friend's and it saved his life. It's in the video.

 

I'm not convinced a Scion or a Prius is safer than a Toyota 4 Runner with it's larger cage and larger break zone.

This is a sad story guy lost his life in an accident driving a Prius.


The Daily Reflector

 

It's common sense. Which car would you rather be in , in and accident with a Prius and an Enclave or a Prius and a Yukon? A Prius and a Smart Car.....just common sense and physics.

 

Interesting quote in support of my argument. This study is saying larger cars SUV as a Class of vehicles have lower death rate than small cars. This supports my previous comment. It goes back to my First Responder friend who says you start to see a pattern after awhile.

I quote "Generally larger, heavier vehicles tend to be safer than smaller cars because light vehicles have less structure to absorb the energy from collisions."




Car Insurance: Safe and Dangerous Vehicles | Insure.com

 

Here is the 2011 IIHS article;
www.iihs.org/externaldata/srdata/docs/sr4605.pdf
Death rates for SUV's used to be no better than passenger cars due to higher rollover risk. But due to ESC, today's SUV's are half the deaths rates as cars. What's interesting is that the vehicle with the highest death rate is one of the smallest vehicles on the market, a Nissan 350z sports car. No surprise there. The second? One of the heaviest vehicles on the market, a Nissan Titan Crew Cab full size pickup.

Prius has the lowest death rate of small cars at 52 deaths per million. Avoid the Nissan Pathfinder and Nissan Xterra. They have higher death rates than the Prius. Actually avoid Nissan altogether unless you are getting the Armada. The rest of the brand are death traps according to the article. Oh and if you really want a safe vehicle but loathe SUV's and minivans? Pick up an Audi A6 or Mercedes E class, 0 deaths in a million. I love statistics. Now bring on the flesh wounds and dismemberment statistics! Because we don't always die in an accident. Sometimes, we just lose a limb.

 

Mmmodem funny how you cherry pick data to make a inferior point.

The article quoted says Minivans are the safest vehicle class followed by SUV.



Are you saying the full size car Audi and Mercedes are safer than the econobox Prius? That is a step in the right direction that Prius is not the end all creme de la creme

 

I wonder, though, if that's because of the people who tend to drive minivans as opposed to SUVs. I'd imagine that minivans are more popular among soccer moms, who might be more careful drivers especially with kids.

 

^^^^^^^^

I agree

 

Man, you guys haven't been on the roads!

 

I guess they never checked around here.

 

IMO the only reason to buy a Nissan is if you want a 350Z. Their Frontier pickup gets horrible gas mileage, their Titan is being discontinued, their sedans are way too flashy, which is why they look so dated by the time the next generation rolls around, and their SUVs are grossly overpriced. But the 350Z? It's a neat little car.

 

I have been following this post. I own two Prius cars, a 2012 and my wife's 2013. We have two little girls. one is 6 the other is 2. both are my pride and joy and love them so much. I got the prius for economy, but my most important factor was the fact that iihs named it a top safety pick. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have gotten them. But now after reading this post, I am really growing weary and nervous. I am especially scared of a rear colission. I also notice the doors seem to be a bit flimsy. Not sure if this has anything to do with the great clunk you hear from mercedes, volvo and vw. Does it really matter how it sounds? Isn't it all about the steel behind the door panels? I'm just not sure though and reconsidering our purchases. Unfortunately they are leased vehicles, mine is coming up next June. Her's is brand new. Does it matter how the door sounds when closing?

 

Does it matter how the door sounds when closing?
Short answer. No

 

I just drive so much, the Prius makes so much sense. I got my prius last june 30, 2012, I already have 16,000 miles on it in just 13 months. It's been a fantastic car, totally reliable. No issues. Only small gripe is the low front end that knocks on parking lots sometimes. But I do worry about safety somewhat.

 

I do not worry about safety at all with my Prius. This is my second Prius. Going on 9 years of Prius ownership now, and I feel as safe in this car as any others I have had in the last 45 years.
Enjoy your cars, they are really great cars!

 

No if the car costs $15K, for a $40K car, I want it sounds like a $40K car.

 

I agree!
But it does not make a safer car.