Old cars like that were built like bridge beams, no give, steering columns did not collapse - that alone killed a lot of people. Modern car designs try and keep the passenger cell intact, while allowing both ends to crumple. My beef with the current designs is that even a low speed impact causes huge repair bills - the energy absorbing designs of the late 70's had bumpers mounted on shock absorbers - Canadian cars could deal with something like a 5mph (or was it 8 ?) impact with zero damage.
A modern Civic has a decent crash rating, what is really scary is the sub-compacts - some of them seem to have the rear hatch glass about 3" behind the rear seat passenger !!!
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Rgds, D.
I believe vehicles these days give a much better chance of walking away from a bad wreck, but at the expense the vehicle. ...
99? Are you referring to the Hummer I had? That was a 95 but no matter they are all pretty much the same. Very few differences over the years except for the 06 Alpha which was the last year of production for the civy model Hummer.
Sure did. Other than a blemishes on the chrome finish on the winch mount and a slight bend on one of the mounting brackets, there was no cosmetic damage and no functional issues at all.Did the winch still work?
A friend and I were recently talking about the huge repair bills. I think there should be a limit to how much you, or your insurance, has to pay if you hit someone and only their bumpers are damaged. Call it $300 per bumper. These fancy painted bumpers, fiberglass / plastic ones that need total replacement, etc. that's fine if people want to buy them, but those people (and their insurance) should bear the cost of that styling. They do somewhat by their own insurance being more, but I would be really pissed if I bumped someone in a parking lot and ended up with a $1000 claim against me, and it happens all the time.
My girlfriend has a late-model Mustang and both her front and rear bumpers are trashed from parking lot hit-and-runs. It is $600 for one, $700 for the other. Since she has a $500 deductible on her insurance she has to pay for most of it. In my honest opinion (not that I will tell her this) she should have to pay most of it even if the other drivers did stop and give their information. They are cheap bumpers that are designed to fail and be replaced, not get dented and keep on going.
Did the winch still work?
Old cars like that were built like bridge beams, no give, steering columns did not collapse - that alone killed a lot of people. Modern car designs try and keep the passenger cell intact, while allowing both ends to crumple. My beef with the current designs is that even a low speed impact causes huge repair bills - the energy absorbing designs of the late 70's had bumpers mounted on shock absorbers - Canadian cars could deal with something like a 5mph (or was it 8 ?) impact with zero damage.