Are our Slants "Unsafe"?

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RedFish said:
new cars sacrafice themselves to save the occupants.
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IMHO, this is what's wrong with the automotive world today. If airbags were filled with nails and broken glass and seat belts were designed solely for the restraint of small children, people may pay attention to driving instead of talking on the phone, playing with their entertainment centers and texting.
 
It"s true< the cars are unsafe and your in danger of becomeing;

looked at alot, perhaps with a deep envy.

Looking cool

being yelled at. Mostly a hurray type yell.

Given the finger, normally the thumb going up, beware this also will cause a distraction that could wreck your ride and more than likely into a foreign pos!

Whos got some more warnings? Baha ha ha ha ha ha
 
Just ask anyone that races what they would prefer. They'll tell you in a second they'd rather have proper restraints and a car that would hold up to an impact rather than collapse.
 
Give me bigger and heavier any day! My 75 LeSabre was rear ended by a Nipmobile who was hit by a 1992 Buick. Nipmobile was totaled, 92 Buick front clip was on the street and only my rear bumper was damaged. Oh, and I was stopped at a light. My 67 Buick Skylark was rear ended by another Nipmobile. My car sustained heavy frame damage due to rust. I heard a thump, car didn't move, I was stopped. The car that hit me was bouncing off of my Buick as I looked in my rear view mirror.
Old school for me!
 
A car is often only as safe as the person driving it. I drive a '65 Newport daily and it seems plenty safe to me. I don't go down the road trying to do thirteen things at once either. I am actually driving. I have been in two accidents involving old steel (neither were my fault)..

*One was a rear end collision to a '77 Aspen. The woman rear ended me in an early 90's Toyota Camry. She was doing close to 60mph. I got out and could find only a scratch on my bumper. Her grille was smashed, hood was warped, busted the bumper cover and headlights. I was perfectly ok and told the State Trooper to not bother pressing any charges whatsoever.

*Back in '03 or '04, I was driving our previous '73 Duster. A woman pulled out in front of me from no where and I slammed the brakes causing the rears to lock. I went off of a hill and down into a creek. The woman kept on driving like nothing happened...It broke a tie rod end and dented the car up a little. I was ok with the exception of some bruising IIRC.
 
DusterKrazy said:
A car is often only as safe as the person driving it. I drive a '65 Newport daily and it seems plenty safe to me. I don't go down the road trying to do thirteen things at once either. I am actually driving. I have been in two accidents involving old steel (neither were my fault)..

*One was a rear end collision to a '77 Aspen. The woman rear ended me in an early 90's Toyota Camry. She was doing close to 60mph. I got out and could find only a scratch on my bumper. Her grille was smashed, hood was warped, busted the bumper cover and headlights. I was perfectly ok and told the State Trooper to not bother pressing any charges whatsoever.

*Back in '03 or '04, I was driving our previous '73 Duster. A woman pulled out in front of me from no where and I slammed the brakes causing the rears to lock. I went off of a hill and down into a creek. The woman kept on driving like nothing happened...It broke a tie rod end and dented the car up a little. I was ok with the exception of some bruising IIRC.
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This is why I don't understand how newer cars are supposed to be safer. I mean freakin families are in these things! I feel safe knowing my wife drives a Volvo 240. Otherwise I'd literally be calling her every time she got to work to make sure she's safe.

And that's why I drive slow - if someone pulls out in front of me on these roads out here...I'm not gonna be able to stop soon enough. The speed limit's 45 on almost every road here. If someone pulls out, I'm gonna plow through them which I definitely do not want.

Btw, I adore Newports. That's awesome you have one as a daily driver.

fzmax said:
IMHO, this is what's wrong with the automotive world today. If airbags were filled with nails and broken glass and seat belts were designed solely for the restraint of small children, people may pay attention to driving instead of talking on the phone, playing with their entertainment centers and texting.
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+10000. Excellent post. That is exactly how people drive out here. The idiots driving cars don't scare me. It's the SUVs that I know are gonna hurt when they hit me.

FlatheadGeo said:
Give me bigger and heavier any day! My 75 LeSabre was rear ended by a Nipmobile who was hit by a 1992 Buick. Nipmobile was totaled, 92 Buick front clip was on the street and only my rear bumper was damaged. Oh, and I was stopped at a light. My 67 Buick Skylark was rear ended by another Nipmobile. My car sustained heavy frame damage due to rust. I heard a thump, car didn't move, I was stopped. The car that hit me was bouncing off of my Buick as I looked in my rear view mirror.
Old school for me!
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That's what I mean! I got rear ended by some moron in a RAV 4 who was going 50 MPH. I had a 1991 Volvo 240. The guy's whole front bumper was destroyed, and both fenders on his RAV 4 were smashed. I had a scratch on my bumper. I understand the whole crumple zone thing and airbags...But I've been watching crash tests and guess what? Those airbags ain't gonna save you from a snapped neck.
 
it is the same problem with disk brakes
YES disk brakes stop better, so it stands to reason that you are safer now
only problem is, back when everyone had drum brakes that didn't work so well, people would leave a fair distance between them and the car in front, WHY? because they knew they couldn't stop that fast
now that everyone has modern disk brakes they think they can stop on a dime so everyone tailgates, negating the safety advantages of disk brakes, one step forward, one step back, I guess
 
My wife got rear-ended by a Chevy van loaded w/sliding while she was sitting at a light and they were doing about 30-35 mph by the driver's admission. Ahead of her was a refrigerated box truck (International cab/frame), which she promptly got slammed into. Front and rear bumpers, crumpled. Right rear corner very slightly bent, trunk lid slighty bent. Not a scratch on the wife- the guilty driver asked her "What kind of car is that?" My wife "A Buick." His response, "That is a strong car. " She drove it home, the damge was about $2700 all together to fix (I have friends and shop for the lowest price), and I love that car...'99 Regal GS- it just keeps on "Keepin' On!"
 
Some people in this thread are confused about how passenger safety and car damage relate to each-other.

Old cars (in a hard hit) transfered most of that energy to the driver and passengers.

Modern cars absorb and direct that energy away from the driver and passengers.

Saying that your 70-something only got a small dent isn't saying much..... The energy from the crash still went somewhere, usually to the driver or passenger.

An easy example: Close your eyes and quickly walk into a wall. This represents an old car.

Have a friend duct tape a bunch of pillows all over your body and head. Now close your eyes and quickly walk into a wall. This represents a new car.


Ask an old time collision repair guy which are safer. They will tell you. You don't need to clean the blood, hair and teeth out of a vehicle like you did back in the old days.


We have a little crap box, Sentra in the shop right now. Radiator warped around the front of the engine, hood folded, both fenders pushed back far enough to overlap the doors slightly, both frame rails bent.

But the passenger compartment looks untouched and the people inside were uninjured.
 
Well,all I can say is you're safe 'till I finish my '69 Dart !! THEN you may want to head for the hills,'cause Lord knows I LOVE to play with my toys,and all bets are off !!:burnout::D:burnout::D:burnout::D
 
Its quite a coincedent that you talk about tha Scion XB in the original post, my son bought one 2 months ago . 3 weeks ago today he was involve in a accident going no more than 30mph and he rear ended a ford pick up who stopped rather abruptly in font of him, The truck needed to have some scratches taken out of his rear bumper but here is some pics of my son's car. it was deemed a total loss, 14,000 dallars to repair.He was lucky enough to only receive a burn on his wrist from the air bag. but the front end of the Scion was bad enough that it was totaled. i didnt think so but the insuance company did.

Bob
 

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Needless to say he wont be getting into another one of those cracker boxes on wheels any time soon.
 
exactly what he SHOULD be getting back into!
you said yourself HE was fine, the car took ALL the damage
without modern crumple zones HE would have taken most of the impact and would most likely be in a hospital bed
ask your self one question "which would you RATHER replace, the car or your son?"
 
MR.7DUSTER3 said:
Needless to say he wont be getting into another one of those cracker boxes on wheels any time soon.
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Why? He didn't get hurt (THE most important thing) and the insurance will pay off.

Now imagine the same crash with something like a 72 dart. 30 mph into the back of a Ford truck...... Car would still be totaled and he would probably be in the hospital.
 
I think there are alot bigger and better cars outhere that wouldnt have been totaled out and still no damage to him is what I;m saying. No doubt he was saved by the new technologies that the scion had.

Bob
 
1968formulas340 said:
some people in this thread are confused about how passenger safety and car damage relate to each-other.

Old cars (in a hard hit) transfered most of that energy to the driver and passengers.

Modern cars absorb and direct that energy away from the driver and passengers.

Saying that your 70-something only got a small dent isn't saying much..... The energy from the crash still went somewhere, usually to the driver or passenger.

An easy example: Close your eyes and quickly walk into a wall. This represents an old car.

Have a friend duct tape a bunch of pillows all over your body and head. Now close your eyes and quickly walk into a wall. This represents a new car.


Ask an old time collision repair guy which are safer. They will tell you. You don't need to clean the blood, hair and teeth out of a vehicle like you did back in the old days.


We have a little crap box, sentra in the shop right now. Radiator warped around the front of the engine, hood folded, both fenders pushed back far enough to overlap the doors slightly, both frame rails bent.

But the passenger compartment looks untouched and the people inside were uninjured.
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x2
 
That Scion totaled because it wasn't worth **** to begin with.
 
Well,I have no worries about my son and his Scion xB !!A trucks rear bumper is going to have a major impact (pun intended) on whatever runs into it !! I'll bet his son learned a very valuable lesson from this,and won't be following too close anymore !! And he learned it without bodily injury thank God !!
 
Well this is my Neon that got hit from behind by a driver going 30-40 mph. I survived, got a pitence to replace the car but I walked away. Would I have rather been in a larger vehicle yes, but a well built small car is safer than anything similar from the 70's.

If this had been a Pinto I'd have been a crispy critter!
 

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I work full time for a fire dept and worked for years in an autobody shop (now part time). While there's nothing cooler than cruising in an old classic, (like my 69 dart, or my 69 valiant), I would rather my family drive something new. Old cars ARE built stronger, but lack the engineering that make new cars safer. I've responded to hundreds of calls and seen safety equipment work the way it's intended (air bags, impact beams, crumple zones...). Sure our classics may appear to fair "better" in an accident, but I'd rather see my family walk away from a crash and let my insurance company pay for the write off than chance death or serious injury.
 
Yep..it's all I have and all I can currently afford. I drive it everyday. Completely unsafe...I'm sure someone in another country hurts a small animal everytime I crank it. Newports..beware...beware!!!

 
Ok I was in two accidents...
The first, I was driving a 66 Charger and was making a left turn.The Guy behind me going 55-60 mph didn't stop.He hit my car just in front of the rear bumper down on the lower quarter.My Charger ended up with a dent the size of a football.The Jap cars front end was smashed up to the windshield and the hood was folded in half.By the time we both got out of our cars his car caught fire.
The second,I was driving a 78 Dodge Aspen wagon and was rear ended by a Chevy SUV going 45-50.The Aspen ended up with abroken side window and a buckled rear quarter.The SUV was totaled,the front end was gone.
Oh and I drove the Charger and the Aspen home after each accident.The Chevy and Jap car both had to be towed.

I usally feel safer in a older car but it does depend on the make,model,and year.
Jim
 
One of the safest types of cars are mid 70's fullsize luxory barges. Ask anyone that investigates accidents.
 
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