09 Chevy vs 59 Chevy

[longhaul747]

Found this browsing MSN this evening and thought I would share. Its a series of clips showing how modern cars are indeed safer contrary to popular belief. Pretty amazing clips as I thought the 59 Chevy Bel Air would roll through that 09 Malibu with nothing more then a scraped bumper.

Interestingly a few years ago when learning CPR the instructor was a retired EMS guy. He had been doing it for 25 years and he mentioned that modern cars are definentely safer and the ones built in the past 10 years even more so. Older cars despite being larger and more solidly built were actually death traps.


http://articles.moneycentral.msn.co...rash-9-2009&fg=MSNmoney-car-crash-test-9-2009

 

[Uneek]

I would attribute it to the advanced design of today's modern cars using crumple zones, which would absorb much of the impact energy; plus a reinforced cabin and uni-body design. IIRC, I think '59 Chevy is a body on frame.

 

[Jeff Kleb]

Car Crashes


So, did the dummy survive? LOL!

Seriously, though, it is obvious that new cars are indeed safer than old ones - mostly because of crumple zones, air bags, ABS, greater use of alloys, better seats, traction control, etc., etc., etc.

The weakness today is the lack of skill exhibited by most drivers. I contend that people nowadays cannot drive nearly as well as we did "back in the day" before cars almost drove themselves.

Cars today have a lot of safety equipment, but the two most dangerous things are still caused by poor driving skills. The first is failure to use directional signals. This is particularly bad in Virginia. The second is people who drive in the wrong lane (i.e., failure to move right for overtaking vehicles) and force everyone else to bob and weave around them.

That being said, the 1959 BelAir/Impala was certainly a great-looking car and actually was the chassis used for the 'Batmobile' from the "Batman" TV series of the 1960s.
:spider:

My first car was a 1964 Cadillac Sedan deVille - a huge car made with lots of steel and plenty of chrome; but it had drum brakes on all four wheels, bias-ply tires, lap belts and a metal dashboard! It had the handling & turning radius of an aircraft carrier in a rough sea, but it certainly would have done some damage to any vehicle that ran into it.


Even 'economy' cars of today are much safer in many ways than the behemoths of yesteryear; but we need to improve the skill of the average driver if we really want to make our roads safer.
olice: