Re:Model 3 achieves the lowest probability of injury of any ...
by wiredfool on Monday October 08, 2018 @02:04PM
(#18169756)
Small overlap drivers side collision is basically a partial head on collision on a two lane road?
Seems like the drivers side is far more likely to encounter that sort of collision.
Re:Model 3 achieves the lowest probability of injury of any ...
by perl4ever on Monday October 08, 2018 @02:25PM
(#18169948)
I don't have statistics, but what if a person is driving along a street with parked cars and someone pulls out such that the impact is on the right corner instead? That seems like a plausible scenario.
Or a car is unexpectedly stopped in the right lane because of an accident or a police stop. I came around a corner with no visibility today to find a police car attending to a wrecked vehicle on the right.
Re:Model 3 achieves the lowest probability of injury of any ...
by wiredfool on Wednesday October 10, 2018 @03:59PM
(#18188333)
First, The energy of a head on collision is twice that of a perpendicular collision. (+-, depends on mass and such). This also applies to car -> stationary car.
Second, one of the basic rules of the road is that you have to be able to stop within your sight distance.
Driver side offsets were a bad type of collision, and they were particularly bad in older body on frame cars before that sort of testing, and when there were a lot of 2 and three lane roads.
Toyota was caught overoptimizing for crash tests recently. They designed their Sienna minivan for small overlap driver's side impacts, but didn't reinforce the passenger side because there wasn't previously a test for that. Now there is. Oops.
"While Toyota has modified the structure of the vehicle to improve driver-side protection starting with 2015 models, the automaker did not make the same changes to the passenger side"
https://jalopnik.com/the-toyota-sienna-bombed-the-toughest-p...
I'm not suggesting Toyota is the only one who designs their cars to precisely pass the tests, either. If Toyota does it, I think it's almost certain other major manufacturers take a similar approach. Volvo has a reputation for being more holistic, but who knows if it's deserved? But any major manufacturer can optimize for crash testing, and it's more economically efficient than going the extra mile, which means it's likely that's just what they do.