Everybody knows the old cars were built stronger than today's lightweights, right? If this vid will repro, you may not believe a 1/4 head-on collision between a 1959 Chevy Bel Air and a 2009 Chevy Malibu. Check out how the 59s driver is mangled by the steering wheel, and how the air bag in the 09 barely allows the occupant to move forward just a bit. Incredible! This was posted by a guy who has been in collision repair for 30 years. He contends today's cars are orders of magnitude safer than those of yesteryear. Form yer own conclusions! Frank
Very interesting. Thanks, Frank. At least over here, it is common knowledge that new cars are way safer than old(er) cars. The video confirms this one more time. Fans of older cars are aware of the risks but basically ignore them because for those people it's other things that matter when it comes to driving an older car. On our packed highways still including sections without speed limit but with lots of "sporty" drivers who want to outdrive their cars, car safety is a question of survival. The most horrible accidents are shown each evening on TV. The reason why drivers sometimes survived is, above all, the passenger compartment which did not get deformed as shown in the video. I'm grateful to those engineers.
This post made me think of Sammy Davis Jr. Davis lost an eye in an automobile accident from the bullet-shaped horn button in his 1954 Cadillac. Cars are definitely safer and more dependable these days. I think the next step will be a focus on transportation and the demise of the private ownership of automobiles. What will future generations of Americans keep in those two and three car attached garages?
Well since I don't have a basement and I have a 3 car garage but only one car fits...I think I know the answer for me...more junk. @Beatrice Taylor , I never knew that is how Sammy Davis Jr lost his eye!
I took my 2011 Honda Accord in for a passenger side airbag recall. The recalled airbag if deployed could have exploded and driven shards of metal into the unfortunate passenger. Wouldn't it be ironic to be killed by a lethal safety device?!