Which vehicles are safest by make and model...

[VNMUS]

NOTE that this study is deeply flawed in my opinion. Read on ...

Important point #1: this does not take into consideration the vehicle's ability to avoid an accident, which is obviously an important element of safety. It postulates that you will have accident and asks which vehicles give you the best chance to avoid injuries/death in that presupposed case.

Important point #2: the study makes almost no attempt to adjust for, study, or control the nature of the drivers. It is an evaluation of the vehicles AND their typical drivers. There could be and probably is a strong element of self-fulfilling prophecy in the results. Pick-up trucks may appear to be higher risk because they are more likely to be driven by reckless, rural drunks, while Toyotas may appear safe simply because they are chosen by sensible, cautious drivers. However, if the cautious drivers were forced to switch from Toyoyas to Chevy S-10s, there is nothing in the study to suggest that their risk would increase.

What the study REALLY proves is that drivers of pick-up trucks are more likely to die in an accident than drivers of mid-sized Toyotas, but it does not show whether the vehicle itself is part of the cause. (For all we know, they may be ten times more likely to be drunk)

Check this link out for the study. http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/EETD-SUV-Safety.html

http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/assets/images/2002/Aug-26-2002/SUV_graph.gif

[Bluerauder]

NOTE that this study is deeply flawed in my opinion. Read on ...
The chart is interesting .... I like charts. :D Without judging the report, its methods or its conclusions, here's what I see:
1. You don't want to get hit by a pick-up truck -- any kind.
2. Stay away from the Chevy S-10 -- top end risk to driver
3. Generally bigger is better for your (the driver) safety
4. Minivans are among the safest vehicles for its driver
5. Regardless of what kinda of car hits you -- the risk is about the same 25-50 without regard to size (larger SUVs and Pick-ups excluded) :dunno:

I find this last point particularly surprising. :rolleyes: The graphic shows that the risk to driver's of other vehicles is about the same if you are hit by a Grand Marquis, a Corolla, a Saturn, or a Stratus. I find this difficult to swallow from a physics perspective. Maybe I am not reading the chart right. Guess I will have to look up the report and figure out what the 25-50-75, etc. numbers mean. :confused:

[texascorvette]

Looks like the Dodge Ram Pickup is the vehicle to drive. If you are in an accident severe enough to kill you, it would appear that you can take out the maximum amount of people in the vehicle that hit you. That way, even if you're dead, you still win the game.

[Hotrauder]

Looks like the Dodge Ram Pickup is the vehicle to drive. If you are in an accident severe enough to kill you, it would appear that you can take out the maximum amount of people in the vehicle that hit you. That way, even if you're dead, you still win the game.

I like that. Dennis:D

[Smokie]

I never purchased a car based on any kind of study, I buy what I like. The most important safety device in any car I am driving is me....

The study suggests that the mass of the car is not significant when a big car hits a small car or vice versa. That tells me that this is not a scientific study, simply a lot data that can be manipulated to say whatever you want it to say.