Cars Have Become Safer

Cars have gotten safer.  For example, electronic stability control (ECS) became mandatory on new cars in 2012. Since then, pickup truck deaths dropped dramatically. Small trucks had a 78 percent decrease in fatalities, and large trucks had a 63 percent drop. Carmakers also installed more airbags and strengthened the roofs of SUVs and trucks, which sometimes lacked sufficient roof strength to protect occupants in a crash.

According to 2015 The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), deaths per million registered vehicles decreased by 56 percent for the mini-car category from 2005 to 2015. Deaths dropped 57 percent in small cars, 46 percent in midsize cars, and 28 percent in large sedans.

It’s a matter of physics, that bigger and heavier cars are safer than smaller and lighter cars. Large vehicles weigh more and have longer hoods and bigger crush zones, this gives them an advantage in frontal crashes. New small cars are safer than they’ve ever been, but new larger, heavier vehicles are still safer than small ones.

Heavier vehicles will typically push a lighter one backward during the impact. As a result, there is less force on the occupants of the heavier vehicle and more on those in the lighter vehicle. The lowest 2015 death rate by vehicle type is for very large SUVs: 13 deaths per million registered vehicles. The highest is for mini cars: 64 deaths per million registered vehicles.

Some people still believe that older cars were built like tanks, making them safer than new cars. This is not necessarily true.  A large 10-year-old vehicle that does not have side airbags or ESC would not fare as well in an accident as a small vehicle today equipped with modern safety equipment and collision avoidance technology. ESC greatly reduces the chance of a vehicle rollover, which is particularly important for top-heavy trucks and SUVs. Regardless of what you drive, all experts agree that how you drive is the most important safety factor. Human performance and behavior factors contribute to more than 90 percent of crashes, according to NHTSA

If you’re shopping for a used car, make sure it has side airbags and ESC.

If you are in an  accident with a negligent driver contact the experienced car accident attorneys at Bell & Pollock for your “Legal Game Plan.”