IIHS starts testing new frontal crash tests. Surprising results inside.

[Throckmorton]

It is because of much higher pressure (same force, less area). This is hard for the vehicle to properly absorb. If you get hit with 30 lbs of force with a hardcover book, how will that feel vs getting hit with 30 lbs of force with a knife or a screwdriver for example? It's the same thing to the car.


Also the oblique path the vehicle takes makes many of the airbags nearly worthless as the occupant ends up sliding off to the side (just watch the videos out there).

Size of the impact doesn't explain it. It explains greater damage to the car, which isn't the same as damage to occupants.

 

[Zenmervolt]

You'll appreciate the thick A pillars if you get T boned or rollover

In a side impact it's the B-pillars, not the A-pillars, that are most important. And even then, it's the strength at bumper-height, not near the roof.

You're right about rollovers though. But, to my mind, those are so spectacularly rare (for cars) as not to play much role at all in my safety considerations. But I ride motorcycles, so maybe I'm inclined to be more on the risk-taking side.

ZV

 

[Howard]

The problem is that carmakers design their cars specifically to do well in the tests. They don't care about actual safety.

The onus is on the safety associations to develop tests that reflect realistic safety performance, of course.