Are older cars really safer than newer ones?

Ramon Dahlheimer: Some older cars are safer and some aren't. Generally speaking, old big cars are overall more safe. Smaller newer cars need all of the safety equipment to make up for what they lack in shear strength of components.Hit a concrete wall at 60 MPH while wearing your seat belt in a 88 Cadillac and with your 01 Audi, using all of it's safety equipment and the results will be about the same. Do the same thing with a Ford Pinto or a Brand new Smart Car and the results are the same, you're dead.Have a minor fender bender and the 88 Cadillac will win every time....Show more

Sherita Gallati: Bumper sticker on an '88 Cadillac: My "Crush Zone" is your car.Tell your friend that the proper term for your car is a "Bumper Snack."Trust me, the old iron is safer. It will drive away from a collision that will total a newer car. Check the facts:http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/09s1...In 1980 there were 17.9 million accidents resulting in 53,200 deaths. ! By 2000, improved driver training saw the number of accidents drop to 13.4 million, and the deaths drop to 43,400. The latest year we have figures for is 2006; accidents drop further to 10.4 million but the deaths have risen slightly to 44,700.Deaths per 10,000 accidents:1980: 29.72000: 32.42006: 43.0...Show more

Boyce Gilhooly: You need to take different routes and change it up! I used to get that way so I changed my routes and made it a adventure like leaving early so I could check out different places along the way made it interesting rather than going postal on undeserving people.

Ilana Gaster: flip your visor down.the directions for the 4x4 should be right there on the back.if not check the owners manuel.yes you can shift to 4x4 high while moving under 50mph,4x4 low under 10mph.use only on snow covered road or off road.NEVER on dry hard surface.meaning the road.you will tear up the transfer case.

Ariel Arons: Our children get picked up every day aro! und 6:30, the center drops them off at school, picks them up a! nd drops them at home around 8:30. Both my wife and I work extended hours during the week. They didn't ask us to purchase seats, but they did give us a handout at the beginning on ages, weights and the law in FL. I believe they stay in a seat until age 5, but if you want to go beyond the law, I think you have to provide your own booster seat.

Walter Scordino: like evryone else out there i've experienced serval fits of road rage when some doof on the road does something wrong that not only endangers themselves but also threatens my safety but lately ive found that my fits have gotten very bad i get extremely angry and not very normal thoughts cross my mind, although ive never carried out some of the things i would like to do to these careless drivers im worried that someday my road rage could get so bad that i actually might. can anyone give me some tips about how to keep road rage off the road!...Show more

Alexander Villas: Sorry Dimo, but I'm with Benjamin Disr! aeli on this one."There are three types of lies. Lies, damn lies and statistics."The Statistical Abstract does make for interesting reading, but taking a swathe of stats from the best part of 30 years and then saying that the increase in road deaths is solely down to changes in the crashworthiness of vehicles over that period doesn't add up. What other changes happened over that period? What other trends were going on at the same time that could have an affect? One thing that I can think of right off the top of my own head is the increasing prevalence of the cell phone and, as it would seem in the UK at least, a general decrease in driving standards and a greater likelihood of speeding.As to the specific question, others have already given decent answers as to why the "old iron" Caddy is a bad safety choice. However, one factor has been overlooked. Not only is it likely to inflict greater damage to any other vehicle it hits, it is also likely to cause greater injury to the! driver in the event of such a collision. The issue at stake here is no! t about whether one sort of car is more crashworthy than another but about what influence this choice has on the survivability of any given accident.The reason is that a newer car is better able to dissipate the force of the impact, which is what causes all the damage and injury. By crumpling, a newer car lengthens the duration of the impact which means that the forces dissipate more gradually and less is transmitted to the occupants. By failing to crumple, the Caddy will inevitably transmit more of the impact forces to the occupants resulting in greater injuries. It's one thing to claim that the Caddy can be driven away from a collision, but quite honestly if I'd just been in a crash that's not a feature I'd be keen to have. I WANT my car to crumple because I WANT it to take the impact forces so that I have a better chance of surviving.At the end of the day, an relatively undamaged car is no good to you if you're dead or seriously injured....Show more

Serena Doak: FL! car seat use requirements:A car seat with a harness must be used until a child’s fourth birthday. For children ages 4 and 5, a car seat or booster seat can be used but not a seat belt alone. Parents should also know that a booster seat is actually recommended until the height of 4 foot 9 inches (between 8 and 12 years of age). The booster seat allows for the seat belt to be positioned correctly on the child’s body. Although the law only requires a car seat with a harness until age 4, safety experts recommend children remain in a car seat with a harness until the maximum height and weight allowed for their seat....Show more

Sherri Drakos: 1

Kim Gerbino: No

Josefine Weekey: no

Darrin Hixenbaugh: i have a 2001 nissan pathfinder se. is it safe to shift from 2WD into 4WD while moving? and if so, what speed is it safe/unsafe at?

Vernon Martorana: Contrary to popular belief, larger older cars are less safe than many of the latest small vehicles. ! Technology has improved so much in the past 10 years that leading safet! y experts are now recommending people buy newer, smaller cars with the latest safety features, rather than choose an older large sedan or wagon.

Phillip Modafferi: Well I think there are pros and cons to both sides of this argument. In terms of the old model cars, it has been known that older model cars were made of a more sturdier metal. Even though older model cars lack the safety features such airbags, ABS braking system, or safety alarms, the cars today are just not made with the same amount of craftsmanship or the same type of metal that today's cars are made of....Show more

Toney Flaten: I think you're wrong wvparano... Compare putting an egg in a metal can and dropping it on the floor. The egg will shatter but the can won't be hurt, lol. Now put the egg in a cardboard box with tissue around it and drop it on the floor. Chances are that even though the cardboard might get dented and destroyed, the egg won't break as easily and certainly not as badly as ! the metal can with no protection inside.The asker's friend is wrong point blank. Car safety features have gone up, not down. Like the poster before you said, having your car be undented in a crash won't help you if you're dead or seriously injured. It all comes down to which is better in a crash: getting tossed around to your death in an old metal car, or having your new "plastic" car crush in around you but still walk out alive?...Show more

Codi Manchel: The simple truth really isn't so simple. The newer vehicles have far more safety features and much better engineered "crush" zones - but physics is physics - and that '88 Cadillac probably weighs pretty near twice what some of the newer vehicles weigh and that inertia will absolutely crush a smaller vehicle in an accident. However, as far as hitting a solid barrier, I'd take a newer vehicle any day.

Chet Nozick: http://www.intellichoice.com/reports/vehicleReport...Shift on the fly is safe up to 50mph.

Ron! nie Barcus: I'm going to be starting a daycare there soon, and I wanted! to know more about the child seat safety laws there. As a provider who may be offering parents transportation as well as child sitting, I want to make sure to follow the laws, but also do what parents find most comfortable. Boosters to six for sure, but beyond that? I know the norm in some areas is nearing age 12. Those of you who get pick up and drop off service, did you provide your seat or expect your daycare provider to have her own? Thank you....Show more

Giovanni Malool: I drive an 18 wheeler through downtown Pittsburgh, PA all day. I am used to aggressive drivers. Relax, Be patient, and slow down. Be overly friendly with them. Let drivers merge, yield when you think they might not. We all get angry, but then they might be from out of town. Are they lost?

Fermin Tara: watch this (59 Chevy Bel Air vs. 09 Chevy Cruze):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ptUrQOMPs

Rebeca Mckin: When you have a fit, pray! Pray that God will come into your heart an! d make changes in you. Forgive those who provoke you.

Cristopher Gavalis: Some vehicles you can, and some you can't... have you checked your owner's manual? Is there any info on the visor? (my Nissan has info on the visor.) If not, you should contact someone at Nissan. In my vehicle I can go into 4H at any speed but I have to be almost stopped to come out.

Providencia Serpe: Just think that the person has an emergency or something that's imparing their driving. Or carry a stress ball with you. Helps relieve your bad thoughts. Otherwise just tell yourself that your a better person and driver that you will just ignore it.

William Vickerman: i try to listen to smooth, soft music. no rap or fast music.

Jayson Brod: no he is full of bull pappy/newer cars are designed to have a crush rate that absorbs energy while giving way/this crush rate and designs move heavy components (engine/trans) away from pass compartmentwhile increasing density to dissap! ate energy

Joeann Hoyt: Old cars are only safer if your boinking.! lolActually newer cars, in general, are much better designed they are designed to take impacts better and they do handle,stop, turn better. But I hate anti-lock rakes on ice.So if your racing take the audi, if your boinkin' the caddy has alot more room.

Oscar Waddups: Don't show any emotion or reaction to it. Drive to a police station if the offender follows you. Call the police on 911 as your driving and have them direct you to a location to intercept you and the offender.

Rebbecca Sorkin: Take slow deep breaths. THINK! What will you accomplish by acting out your road rage? We can not change the behaviors of others but we CAN change how we react to them.

Marvella Benward: get over it. theres good and bad, nothing you can do, there will always be good and bad.

Claude Gloden: On a area time circulate case with locking hubs, you're able to desire to come to an entire provide up and then shift into 4wd. you're meshing your the frontchronic including ! your circulate case and rearchronic, so which you're able to desire to wreck some gears by utilising shifting whilst shifting. On dirt roads, you may circulate away it in 4wd, the tires will slip slightly, yet shouldn't bind. yet once you get onto perplexing pavement, take it out. you will bind up the driveline. The tires could desire to slip slightly whilst turning corners and stuff, so on moist or snowy or dirt, this is wonderful. yet on dry pavement, no.

Lavelle Viveiros: its fairly simple actually an older car didnt have the safety features it has now so to cope with this they put in things such as a fully collapsable steering column in case of a head on accident. plus with older cars which typically have larger block engines you have a good two feet of metal between you and the car plus inches more of steel. and considering most muscle or older cars dont go as fast as the newer sports cars. the sports cars are made of light weight aluminum plastic alloys or fiber! glass. putting this with the faster speeds of the newer cars id totall! y say an older car cause i mean if you get in an accident going 100 in a small aluminum alloy car vs a 8 foot long Grand ville the smaller car would get totaled most likely crushed while the pontiac will likely get totaled as well but will probably have less significant damage and you head will probably still be on...Show more