Shocked how unsafe minivans are

[desy]

Good point
Its why minivans are some of the lowest to insure vehicles out there around here anyway
The reason they went to the offset test IS because it represents real world accidents complete headons aren't as common but offset is cause more often the drivers are avoiding the headon but don't have time to avoid clipping each other

 

[Zodiark1593]

That's why they're good for tooling around town but I'd never take one on the freeway in modern traffic.

Actually, it be better to take them in modern traffic now. Let the other car's crumple zones work for you, and keep both your life and comparatively intact car. The other SOB gets the new accordion car.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Small overlap test is retarded /thread

if they're more representative of real-world crashes than other types of events, then it is wise to perform the small-overlap test.

problem being that reinforcing the structure will add more weight, reduce gas mileage, yadda yadda yadda...

 

[bigi]

Small overlap test is retarded /thread

With this argument you have won............ a new car.

Anyway, I see small overlap very relevant with collisions that you 'barely' hit something else during passing that went wrong or hitting just a small portion of concrete bridge, etc.

 

[Jeff7]

With this argument you have won............ a new car.

Anyway, I see small overlap very relevant with collisions that you 'barely' hit something else during passing that went wrong or hitting just a small portion of concrete bridge, etc.

Especially if you're in the midst of an quick "OH SHIT" type of steering maneuver.


You might not have time to think "But wait, if I want to have the best chance of surviving, I should really be steering for a full head-on collision."

 

[OverVolt]

Especially if you're in the midst of an quick "OH SHIT" type of steering maneuver.


You might not have time to think "But wait, if I want to have the best chance of surviving, I should really be steering for a full head-on collision."

O rly you "oh shit" clip something with the wheel turned trying to evade it with a dead-on direct vector into the barrier do tell more. This happens all the time? wow! That like, breaks physics. Your wheels are turned but your vector is straight into the barrier? Amazing! This is what real life is like? Thats news to me.

Nobody plows directly head on into something with a 25% offset unless they were asleep and got unlucky. I suspect with the wheel turned and the cars vector at an odd angle instead of dead-on with the immobile barrier you will glance off a bit saving it from being a full impact like the IIHS is testing. Nobody plows into something at 40mph 25% offset dead-on. Its really akin to trying to peel apart the car like a can opener.

 

[thescreensavers]

^ The Small Overlap crash test was introduced as a high percentage or deaths was due to these type of crashes.. so if you look in the real world yes these type of crashes happen..

Identification of small overlap crashes as a significant
contributor to frontal crash injuries and fatalities is not
new. In a study of fatal frontal crashes in the United
Kingdom, Hobbs [4] found that 27% of the crashes
had deformation in which neither longitudinal member
was involved. O’Neill et al. [5] analyzed frontal
crashes in the United States and determined that
frontal crashes with less than 33% overlap accounted
for 22% of fatal crashes. Scheunert et al. [6] examined
real-world crash data in Germany to study the distribution
of frontal crash types and determined that 26%
of the crashes were equivalent to a 30% overlap crash
test. In a more recent study of fatal frontal crashes in
Sweden, Lindquist et al. [7] found that 34% of the
deaths occurred in crashes in which there was no deformation
of the outboard longitudinal members

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/ESV/esv21/09-0423.pdf

The way most auto companies are fixing this is with a reinforced bumper. Basically just a thick steel bar in the bumper. I don't see how that suddenly makes the car super safe. The crumple zones are what absorb the energy. They're basically trying their best to single out the crumple zone on one side of the car and exploit it. So the fix is to reinforce the bumper with steel to distribute the force of the impact to both sides of the frame. But then you're back to the front being too stiff in a direct head-on.

It must be so easy to pass, just check out the redesigned 2014 Corolla it should pass with flying colors since toyota "fixed" the car up.

During a media event held to introduce the car, company spokespeople said running changes had been made specifically to prepare the Corolla for the new test.

Alright lets watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AnNSfVds9M

Add what ever you want, weak structure is still weak...

The driver's space was seriously compromised by intruding structure. Lower interior intrusion measured as much as 32 cm at the lower hinge pillar. Upper interior intrusion measured as much as 20 cm at the instrument panel.

32cm = 12.6 inches...

 

[OverVolt]

:hmm: AFAIK most fatal accidents these days were the result of falling asleep, looking at your phone, or being drunk, resulting in you crossing the double yellow line.

 

[Strk]

I know when they came out with the test a couple of years ago, a huge amount of manufactures failed (like they first did with side-impact tests). I'm surprised these few are still doing so poorly in this test.

 

[beginner99]

:hmm: AFAIK most fatal accidents these days were the result of falling asleep, looking at your phone, or being drunk, resulting in you crossing the double yellow line.

Or from other drivers getting impatient and doing risky stuff because the other idiot was blocking a line and crawling while texting.

That's why people who are insecure/afraid of driving should stay of the roads. It only induces risky behavior in others.

 

[michal1980]

anyone interested in the small offset test should go to the iihs website where they list the data and pictures.

look up the 2013 and 2014 camary, the 2013 is before the updated bumper, 2014 is actually a test of the 2014.5. imho the improvements are amazing.

 

[jagec]

What would REALLY be safe is better regulations on bumper height. Since I don't think a hummer hitting a versa is going to be five star no matter how many steel bars they put in the bumper, if it never hits the bumper.

No kidding. You want to drive on public roads, you should have a bumper that isn't a weapon. We're not allowed to put spikes on our wheels Ben Hur style, so why should pickup trucks/SUVs be allowed to have such insanely dangerous bumper heights?

Now I understand that people need ground clearance when off-roading, but that's a minority of pickup/SUV owners,and some sort of retractable or removeable bumper system would solve that little problem.

 

[OverVolt]

:hmm: If minivan models are known by insurance companies to be safer, but they all fail the small offset test miserably, I see that as the small offset test being of dubious value. Thats where my initial line of reasoning comes from on being suspicious on the value it.

 

[Kushina]

I cringe everytime I see raised minivans, what is up with that these days?