The big is better theory continues

[smart142 605]

The Deadliest Cars Boast The Best Gas Mileage And Easy Parking

 

CBS news

May 25, 2017  By Julie Watts

 

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — Everyday about 100 people are killed in an auto accidents.

A new report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that the better the economy, the more traffic deaths.

However, your odds of surviving may largely depend on the size of your car.

 

Small cars are popular on Bay Area roadways, boasting good gas mileage, and easy parking on city streets.

But as crash tests show, Mini Coopers and even small cars, come with serious safety drawbacks.

For instance, a Mercedes continues to move forward while a Smart car is thrown backwards in a crash.

 

Chuck Farmer, the vice president of research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said, “If you are in a small car you have to realize that most of the cars around you are bigger … you are at a very big weight disadvantage, that’s the physics of it.”

 

When looking at specific categories, four-door mini cars have the highest death rate while large luxury SUV’s have the lowest.

Overall, minivans have the lowest death rate.

 

Cars have the highest, with 39 for every million cars on the road.

And Farmer says the number of crash deaths rise as the economy improves.

The study found road deaths have been trending downward since 1970, with a huge drop when the economy tanked in 2008.

 

But in 2015, deaths began to increase again.

IIHS notes a stronger economy fuels more driving, leading to an increase in deadly crashes.

They predict crash deaths will fall again and note the increasing autonomous cars and crash avoidance technology will help.

 

But when it comes to small cars, improved safety designs and technology can only do so much.

Julie Watts

 

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/05/25/the-deadliest-cars-boast-the-best-gas-mileage-and-easy-parking/

[marchanna 115]

A strong economy also results in people buying bigger gas guzzlers.  I read a report from the insurance bureau that indicated that your chances of surviving a crash in a large pickup or SUV is indeed greater, however, for every 1 life saved in an big vehicle 3 others are claimed in a crash which would otherwise not have been fatal.

 

In the end big vehicles are safer for the occupants but orders of magnitude more dangerous for everyone else.

 

The end result, because some people have to have giant vehicles, everyone else does too in order to equalize safety.  It's a negative feedback loop.  Shall we discuss the impact on economic cycles?