I agree I usually feel safer in my small cars than larger vehicles. The use of agility an control goes a long ways.
I often drove F350 power strokes with toppers and trailers for my old job and I will take my saabaru any day of the week over those. (Much of my driving was on sketchy/clay/hilly back roads)
I find that people who live in rural areas tend to drive small cars for the economy factor alone. You can save thousands of dollars on gas an insurance. (The only place I don't know this to be true is oil field country)
Last One That Posts Wins!
Oh, I have no doubt there are more accidents in the city due to more cars, higher population density, etc. However, the speeds at which those accidents occur are much lower than out in the country. In fact, I recall reading an article on the states with the highest rates of car accident related deaths and it did not include New York, California, Florida, Massachusetts or any other large and/or densely populated state. #1 was Mississippi. In fact, the top 10 most dangerous (measured by death rate) are in the South and/or rural states like Montana.
Keep in mind we are talking accident related deaths and not merely accidents.
While the main causes of traffic deaths boils down to personal responsibility such as seat belt use, helmet use, and car seat use for children, I believe speed has a factor as you drive faster in more rural areas. For those reasons, I'd rather drive a larger, safer vehicle in these states since it's most likely that the death rates go up as speeds go up from driving in more rural, open roads than in dense city traffic.
I can do everything about trying to minimize the own risk I create, but as we all know, sometimes you are just hit by another car despite all the precautions you take. I personally know an old classmate of mine who was driving on a highway in Ohio or some similar state when a Dodge Viper in opposing traffic lost control and smashed into her Honda CRV. She suffered double broken legs and her infant also suffered fractures. The CRV was totaled as you can imagine. The result could have been much worse had she drove a subcompact like a Versa or something similar that simply has lower structural integrity and smaller crumple zones to mitigate impact force.
Here's the article I mentioned:
http://247wallst.com/special-report/201 ... -drive-in/
Here's some other stats that pretty much show that Southern states and rural states have the highest fatality rates:
http://vehicle-fatalities.findthedata.org/
Keep in mind we are talking accident related deaths and not merely accidents.
While the main causes of traffic deaths boils down to personal responsibility such as seat belt use, helmet use, and car seat use for children, I believe speed has a factor as you drive faster in more rural areas. For those reasons, I'd rather drive a larger, safer vehicle in these states since it's most likely that the death rates go up as speeds go up from driving in more rural, open roads than in dense city traffic.
I can do everything about trying to minimize the own risk I create, but as we all know, sometimes you are just hit by another car despite all the precautions you take. I personally know an old classmate of mine who was driving on a highway in Ohio or some similar state when a Dodge Viper in opposing traffic lost control and smashed into her Honda CRV. She suffered double broken legs and her infant also suffered fractures. The CRV was totaled as you can imagine. The result could have been much worse had she drove a subcompact like a Versa or something similar that simply has lower structural integrity and smaller crumple zones to mitigate impact force.
Here's the article I mentioned:
http://247wallst.com/special-report/201 ... -drive-in/
Here's some other stats that pretty much show that Southern states and rural states have the highest fatality rates:
http://vehicle-fatalities.findthedata.org/
2025 Mazda CX-50 Preferred Hybrid
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Sold)
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Sold)
I think a big part of it has to do with proximity to heath care and how long it takes someone to find you. I drive a lot in ND, Montana, and Wyoming. If you are in an accident involving a single car or even one that involves two cars were all occupants are disabled you could be waiting for over an hour for someone to find you and probably at least that long for emergency care to show up.
I can confidently say that Wyoming is at the top of this list because their roads are super freaky. Very very steep in a lot of places and they have an unbelievable amount of large wildlife. Mule deer may be the dumbest undomesticated animal I have ever seen. In my work travels we have hit three and totaled two vehicles.
I can confidently say that Wyoming is at the top of this list because their roads are super freaky. Very very steep in a lot of places and they have an unbelievable amount of large wildlife. Mule deer may be the dumbest undomesticated animal I have ever seen. In my work travels we have hit three and totaled two vehicles.
Back to the Tesla debate (oh, their Model S is also one of the highest performing cars ever in crash tests):
One crossed the country leisurely in under a week with zero cost in charging. Not bad.
http://www.siliconbeat.com/2014/01/26/e ... a-model-s/
Yes, I know you can do it in half the time with a gas or diesel car if you wanted to. I've personally done it, but it's tiring and tedious. Also, it'll cost you hundreds of dollars in fuel even if you drive a diesel or hybrid.
One crossed the country leisurely in under a week with zero cost in charging. Not bad.
http://www.siliconbeat.com/2014/01/26/e ... a-model-s/
Yes, I know you can do it in half the time with a gas or diesel car if you wanted to. I've personally done it, but it's tiring and tedious. Also, it'll cost you hundreds of dollars in fuel even if you drive a diesel or hybrid.
2025 Mazda CX-50 Preferred Hybrid
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Sold)
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Sold)
No, it's time to get back to winning...KuroNekko wrote:Back to the Tesla debate...
Although, I have to admit this is one of the reasons I love the community here--even in a mindless thread just intended to be 'fun', it has some really great discussions and reading.
But I'm back...back again...Samir's back...tell a friend...
word to your mother...