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0 pointsdan-robertson1y ago0 comments

Just to note the trade-off here: modern cars are much safer in crashes than even cars from ~20 years ago, and the less computer you want, the further back in time you need to go to find suitable cars. There are nuances to the safety thing: some brands were/are safer, more popular car designs today tend to have some features that may worsen safety (taller cars are less stable, heavier cars handle worse, big heavy cars are worse for pedestrians).

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leoedin1y ago

How much safer are they? I can totally believe that the crash safety of cars improved hugely in the 90s - that's basically when large crumple zones, computer modelling of crash performance, airbags, seatbelt pretensioners etc were all developed.

But 20 years ago was 2005. What's changed on a modern car since 2005? There's obviously a lot more safety features (and these have increasingly been part of the crashworthiness rating cars are given). But if you crash into a wall at 40mph, how much stronger are they?

jdietrich1y ago

>How much safer are they?

A lot. Probably the biggest single change was the introduction of the small overlap crash test by the IIHS. It turns out that the standard frontal crash tests are quite unrealistic; in most frontal accidents, the driver swerves to avoid something but clips the corner, rather than just slamming into something head-on. Cars designed to perform well in the standard frontal crash test often performed miserably in the small overlap test.

Compare the same model before and after the small overlap test:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s0Oq2SPu48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE_EUa3VC48

ornornor1y ago

Surprised at how much the dummy’s head misses the airbag in the 2013 model but hits it almost in the center in the 2016.

bufferoverflow1y ago

The safest cars basically saturated the safety tests. To the point where car companies are making up their own tests, simulating much more dangerous collisions.

tobyhinloopen1y ago

The best crash is the one being avoided - I had my modern car save me from slipping 2 times with the ESC. (stability control)

fouc1y ago

[citation required]

I wonder if there's even any citations that can directly show that a 2024 car is "much" safer than a 2004 car. Without relying on NHTSA's safety rating system, which is an indirect proxy at most (and probably has changed multiple times for "reasons"). And without being confounded by changes in regulatory measures.

plasticchris1y ago

Look at the statistics over time?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_...

cjrp1y ago

Could that be from other things though? Better tyres, improved safety-barrier technology, etc.?

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ldoughty1y ago

I think it depends on what you're trying to gauge for safety.

Pre-2000 satedy improvements were heavily about WHEN you get into an accident...

Post 2000 it is heavily is heavily DON'T get into an accident, and it's heavily electronic. Anti-lock breaks, lane change vehicle detectors, unintentional lane change warnings, auto-breaking before collisions.

I certainly agree with the general vibe that cars do too much now, but I'd rather have a dumbified 2010+ish car

hnpolicestate1y ago

Perhaps structurally but the tech stuff isn't improving safety.

With the absolute slightest bit of fog, excessive humidity, rain or snow by Mazda tells me one of its radar systems isn't operable and to please drive safely.

tobyhinloopen1y ago

I don't know what Mazda you have, but my Mazda CX-5 2017's radar systems are MUCH more reliable than the Volvo XC40. The CX-5 maybe failed a handful of times in the years I owned it, but the XC40 failed almost every time the weather was bad (rain, cold, mist, etc)

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leoedin1y ago

jdietrich1y ago

>How much safer are they?

Compare the same model before and after the small overlap test:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s0Oq2SPu48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE_EUa3VC48

ornornor1y ago

Surprised at how much the dummy’s head misses the airbag in the 2013 model but hits it almost in the center in the 2016.

bufferoverflow1y ago

The safest cars basically saturated the safety tests. To the point where car companies are making up their own tests, simulating much more dangerous collisions.

tobyhinloopen1y ago

The best crash is the one being avoided - I had my modern car save me from slipping 2 times with the ESC. (stability control)

fouc1y ago

[citation required]

plasticchris1y ago

Look at the statistics over time?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_...

cjrp1y ago

Could that be from other things though? Better tyres, improved safety-barrier technology, etc.?

2 more replies

ldoughty1y ago

I think it depends on what you're trying to gauge for safety.

Pre-2000 satedy improvements were heavily about WHEN you get into an accident...

I certainly agree with the general vibe that cars do too much now, but I'd rather have a dumbified 2010+ish car

hnpolicestate1y ago

Perhaps structurally but the tech stuff isn't improving safety.

With the absolute slightest bit of fog, excessive humidity, rain or snow by Mazda tells me one of its radar systems isn't operable and to please drive safely.

tobyhinloopen1y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse