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Car Safety Ratings...

F

Fearless Leader

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 21, 2006
2,360
0
Hoosiertown
I was looking at cars today and I asked the car-saleswoman what the (us) government crash ratings really meant. She side stepped the answer by showing us (mom and I) the camry 5 star, (whatever I'll just look it up later).

Anyways I got home and did some research.

*They test the cars at 35mph... I don't drive a lot at that speed.
*The cars they crash only wreck into something that is within 250lbs, (that nice but I'm screwed in a camry and a head on with a hummer)
*They only test for neck/head/chest life threatening injuries, If my arm breaks off it doesn't get noticed.
*And they only test with full sized dummies, Great for me cause im a foot taller than the average and weigh 50 lbs more, also great for one of my best friends. He is 5 foot 1 inch and weighs 98lbs.

Is there anything better?
What do you Europeans use?
edit: well rest of the world?
 
I know that they have baby crash dummies.

I don't think European safety ratings are as strict as here in the US. That is why some European cars are not allowed to be registered in the US such as the Land Rover Defender and others. I know that the porsche 959 Bill Gates, Jerry Sienfeld and other high rollers owned were not allowed to be registered here in the US because the car never had safety tests, but I think they fought enough so that they can drive them now.
 
Well, as far as broken limbs go, the crash test rating try to emphasize whether you'll die or not.

And it does get noticed.

If I remember correctly, my car [Accord] did well on the overall crash test rating, but the passenger area near the right knee didn't fair to well.

Or at least thats what I found while researching prior to purchase.
 
ErikCLDR said:
I know that they have baby crash dummies.

I don't think European safety ratings are as strict as here in the US. That is why some European cars are not allowed to be registered in the US such as the Land Rover Defender and others. I know that the porsche 959 Bill Gates, Jerry Sienfeld and other high rollers owned were not allowed to be registered here in the US because the car never had safety tests, but I think they fought enough so that they can drive them now.
Click to expand...

Yet, the Aveo gets good safety rating here and trash ones in Europe. It is all confusing on which ones are stricter. :eek:
 
Drive Better

You would be much better served to take an advanced driving course. Then you would be in a position to avoid more accidents and how well your car survives a crash then becomes moot. If Amercians were better drivers, we would not need to drive tanks with exploding bags to protect us from our own stupidty. :D
 
My mom believes that a five star would still preform better than a four star at a higher speed, and she's probably right. But what she didn't realize was that these were not across the board for all vehicles. They aren't even across the board within a vehicle class (car/suv/truck).

Some things to think about.
The 5 star camry, and 4 star tundra. If the camry crashed at 35mph, the crewmax tundra could take the same hit at 56mph and the passengers would come out about the same, (well in theory)
 
You can always look at the Insurance Institute crash tests, along with looking at the Euro crash test results -- these vary from the US crash safety ratings.

www.iihs.org

---

Of course the Euro bumpers do vary from the US versions, some may be better or worse in the US.

And while you don't drive at 35mph, hopefully you will try to avoid a crash and/or brake. So the majority or crashes don't happen at 45-65mph unless people plain don't try to stop or avoid an accident.
 
Sun Baked said:
And while you don't drive at 35mph, hopefully you will try to avoid a crash and/or brake. So the majority or crashes don't happen at 45-65mph unless people plain don't try to stop or avoid an accident.
Click to expand...

Thats a real good point, makes sense just never thought about it.
 
Rokem said:
Is there anything better?
Click to expand...

Yes.
NCAP. (Whose protocols the IIHS closely follow, though they are not as extensive as NCAP).

Rokem said:
What do you Europeans use?
Click to expand...

Euro NCAP.

Rokem said:
edit: well rest of the world?
Click to expand...

As far as I'm aware, almost all of the major nations (outside of North America and China) all adhere to ECE regulations, with many utilising the NCAP testing standard, including Japan and Australia of the top of my head.
 
The cheapest sedan sold in Mexico against the cheapest sedan sold in the US around 2015/2016:

 
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