Lots of new systems make modern cars safer than older ones, but there are several things any car needs for safety, and they won't change anytime soon.
In no particular order, but not exclusive to:
1: Decent tyres
2: Decent brakes
3: Decent skills
Printable View
Lots of new systems make modern cars safer than older ones, but there are several things any car needs for safety, and they won't change anytime soon.
In no particular order, but not exclusive to:
1: Decent tyres
2: Decent brakes
3: Decent skills
Yes the MPV was clearly the safer car in this video, but thats hardly surprising considering the difference in age between them! Perhaps if they used a early-mid 90s MPV the tables would have been turned... ;)
These are tests in a lab enviroment and if you read the small print they do say that there is no reason to believe these will be real life results. Who reads the small print though? Certainly not a media which needs a head line to grab you so that someone will see the adds which is what there real business purpose is.
In the UK the government keeps records of real life crashes which are published each year. Problem for people who want to sell you a new car is that it only covers those which are more than 3 years old. They need a minimum of 150 crashes to be included in the stats hence the time delay. These figures show that out of the 10 'safest' cars on the road here 6 are 4x4. Land-Rover Defender is the safest! Range Rover Classic and Discovery are both in top 5. Most other cars fell into a ranking generally by size with smaller resulting in more deaths and serious injury as a percentage of accidents. Based on these stats I would not drive a car smaller than a Focus.
Exception for some reason was BMW 5 series of the early nineties which rated poorly for a large car. 3 series of the same vintage also performs poorly. Basicly eighties and nineties european cars were made with the least metal possible to allow them to move with very small engines and are not somewhere I would want to be in an accident. Remember as it is UK based info this is generally going to be comparing accidents against similar small cars not large v small car.
While a late convert to the concept of independent cash testing it did not take them long once they were involved for Europeans to decide that the whole process should naturally be controled and done from here. They were surprised when the rest of the world was not in support of the idea. Now they have changed the actual tests done and method of rating the results in Europe so the results are no longer compareable with those done elsewhere in the world.
Weren't there some UK crash statistics compiled recently (from REAL) crashes, that showed defenders were safest?
I think one thing that has made me a better driver is the fact that I have driven old, unsafe cars so far in my life.
At year 11, I got a hand-me-down 64 EH with a 179 bored to 186 after a rebuild, and made a fair few highway trips in it. I knew the brakes were poor and extremely touchy, the tyres had quite a few years under thier belt, and the car generally handled like a boat. But I was aware of this, and so was constantly on the ball when driving - scanning traffic ahead and quick to get on the brakes early as so they don't lock up. Then going to the series 3, which in a way was safer again, I was limited to 80kph instead of 150.
I honestly think that if I drove something more modern and comfortable with better brakes, tyres etc I would probably be more switched off behind the wheel, and be more dangerous on the road.
Maybe because cars are getting better, and driving is becoming easier, that drivers are perhaps mentally lazier and less equipped for when it does hit the fan.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...2011/07/83.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by isuzurover
i believe Blknight.aus has a sticker on his deefer that says "YOUR car is my crumple zone"Quote:
Originally Posted by isuzurover
thats the nail on the head.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shonky
any new car from a large reputable company should fare better than a much older car or it would mean we are going backwards.
i'd also like to see an early espace in a similar test to see how it compares
This is certainly true, however, generally people wont spend thousands on modifying their MPV in an effort to improve its performance like some people would on a D2. I'm sure there are people here who couldn't justify selling their 10+ year old 4WD due to the time effort and money they've put into it.Quote:
Originally Posted by taff
I guess things will change, people will move on to a D3 or RRS and become safer for it. It will just take longer than say the sports car market or MPV market.
What a load of Beat Up Crap!
No mention of the fact that when they installed the camera gear they accidentally disabled the Air bag system in the Discovery! They don't mention it in that version of the video but that was the reason it didn't go off....!
QUOTE RE MPV: "It looks as though the driver has room to survive".... but they don't show you as clear a shot of the MPV as they do the Disco. Pausing that shot looks to me (Through the closed window) like the MPV driver's legs are similarly close to the dash as the discovery driver's.
Also the body bending and passenger area look pretty similarly damaged on both vehicles. I would say that both vehicles suffered pretty similar levels of damage, which is a trbute to the MPV but definitely NOT a critisism of the land Rover.
And if they have gone to the trouble of fitting crash test dummies wouldn't you base and publish your findings on the data from thier sensors, rather than just a quick walk around where you don't even visually inspect the interiors of both cars, maybe a few cursory measurements and some hand gestures!!!! Maybe the MPV is more intact but if every one inside is dead, but the landy Passengers were all alive and well, I would think that counted for something....
If I were them I'd be pretty embarassed about that test! They all got excited in the production meeting but in the end couldn't pull it off with any great scientific or statistical basis, and they went into the shoot with the fidings already decided. But hey, the pics look pretty good and it panders to a whole lot of stereo types and misconceptions. For a motoring show I think that's pretty low!
RANT over!