1959 Bel Air vs. 2009 Malibu

[TonyB]

Ever wonder what it would look lik to send a 60-year-old Chevrolet Bel Air hurtling at 40 miles per hour into a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu? Neither did I, but that didn't stop the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety from doing it.

The test was to mark the 50th anniversary of the IIHS and show how much automotive safety has improved as a result.

[DJKenAgain]

Wow!

I would've imagined the '59 would've sustained far less damage than that...what with being made of thicker steel and weighing substantially more!

[TonyB]

I just got an e-mail from a guy all upset about new cars, and how they collapse in an accident compared to the old cars, which are "strong." Here is my response:

You realize that in a collision there is a tremendous amount of change in velocity of a vehicle. Essentially, your vehicle goes from a speed of X (30MPH, let's say) to a dead stop within a fraction of a second.

In that event, there is a tremendous amount of energy that has to go somewhere.

If you have a vehicle that is built like a tank, such as the trucks you describe, the energy is then passed along to the driver and passenger. Then you suffer massive trauma and die.

In a modern vehicle, it is specifically design to absorb that kinetic energy so that you DON'T die. Then you can go buy another vehicle. Since a vehicle is simply a manufactured product, it's no big deal to get another one. They make more all the time.

As a human, you are unique and cannot be replaced.

If I have to crash, I'd much rather have a vehicle take the hit for me than me take the hit for me and my friends bury me.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE old cars and have them myself, including an older Ford Pickup, but they're not nearly as safe as any new vehicle on the market. That was the point of the IIHS video, to prove that new cars are safer than old ones. We've learned how to do heart transplants in the last 50 years, sent a man to the moon and also learned that crumple zones and vehicles designed to collapse at a specific rate are safer than heavy, solid vehicles.