MidnightOffRoad
New member
To be concerned about safety metrics is noble and applauded. To do it incompletely or without the bigger picture can be anything from cherry picking to ignorant.
You're much more likely to die in single car incidents (aka high speed rollover or loss of control) in an SUV than multi-car crashes. There's dozens of other death traps that fair much worse in a multicar collision than a 4Runner.
I got rear ended twice in my last 4 Runner. Both times sitting at a dead stop at a stop light. The second time, the woman hit me so hard, I LITERALLY had change from the console falling from the roof and in my hair. THAT is how hard the impact felt. For a moment, I thought "what in THE ****" as pennies and nickels and quarters rained down from above. When I got out, she had plowed into my hitch receiver and TOTALED her car. Deployed her airbags, roughed her up quite a bit. Front end was a mess. My 4Runner on the other hand was barely damaged. It required the body shop to verify the frame wasn't warped and the rear hatch was dented slightly.
My point is, few vehicles are an answer to all prayers. Each vehicle may perform admirably or horribly depending on specific situations.
Jacking up a 4Runner 3 inches above stock height is great for offroading. At 75mph on a long trip it makes it even more of a death trap if the driver has to suddenly swerve to avoid something. In a tall SUV, the occupants turn into a milk shake when the vehicle rolls.
A 15 passenger van for instance, might have okay front and side crash ratings and such, even with modern airbags, but most 15 pax vans can be made to rollover at speeds less than 40 mph with a hard turn of the wheel.
I tend to look at the frame on design as a safety advantage, not a liability.
Again, with safety you have to look at stability (high speed) low velocity multiple car crashes, basically the whole picture.
4Runners aren't the safest vehicle made, but not because of multi car collisions, they have the same deadly flaw that all high(er) center SUVs with marginal handling performance have.....rollovers.
You're much more likely to die in single car incidents (aka high speed rollover or loss of control) in an SUV than multi-car crashes. There's dozens of other death traps that fair much worse in a multicar collision than a 4Runner.
I got rear ended twice in my last 4 Runner. Both times sitting at a dead stop at a stop light. The second time, the woman hit me so hard, I LITERALLY had change from the console falling from the roof and in my hair. THAT is how hard the impact felt. For a moment, I thought "what in THE ****" as pennies and nickels and quarters rained down from above. When I got out, she had plowed into my hitch receiver and TOTALED her car. Deployed her airbags, roughed her up quite a bit. Front end was a mess. My 4Runner on the other hand was barely damaged. It required the body shop to verify the frame wasn't warped and the rear hatch was dented slightly.
My point is, few vehicles are an answer to all prayers. Each vehicle may perform admirably or horribly depending on specific situations.
Jacking up a 4Runner 3 inches above stock height is great for offroading. At 75mph on a long trip it makes it even more of a death trap if the driver has to suddenly swerve to avoid something. In a tall SUV, the occupants turn into a milk shake when the vehicle rolls.
A 15 passenger van for instance, might have okay front and side crash ratings and such, even with modern airbags, but most 15 pax vans can be made to rollover at speeds less than 40 mph with a hard turn of the wheel.
I tend to look at the frame on design as a safety advantage, not a liability.
Again, with safety you have to look at stability (high speed) low velocity multiple car crashes, basically the whole picture.
4Runners aren't the safest vehicle made, but not because of multi car collisions, they have the same deadly flaw that all high(er) center SUVs with marginal handling performance have.....rollovers.
opcorn:
