Pickup Philosophy Question

[MossRoad]

Wasn't it related to pickups and SUVs being more prone to rolling over in a crash and outside objects penetrating the passenger cabin, etc...?

 

[dmccarty]

Wasn't it related to pickups and SUVs being more prone to rolling over in a crash and outside objects penetrating the passenger cabin, etc...?

The reports/studies I have read stated that what kills in rollovers is people not wearing a belt getting tossed our of the car and said car rolls over them. Or they bounce around inside the vehicle and die. Certainly other things could happen in a roll over but it seems being tossed around or out of the vehicle causes the damage.

Later,
Dan

 

[LD1]

Either way, I still think I am safer in my 1-ton dually than I am in my little saturn work car

 

[aczlan]

From what I have read, a smaller vehicle is more able to get out of the way of an accident, but if you actually crash, there is no replacement for displacement.
Personally, I have a 1997 Volvo V90 which is a good middle ground between size and crash survivability.

Aaron Z

 

[bcp]

That is AWESOME! Where can I get that! :licking:

David

Many of the surplus truck dealers offer them.

Here's one:

Bobbed Deuces, 5-tons

Bruce

 

[sixdogs]

We spent 25 years living in a very remote New England setting and I have seen countless accidents of cars and trucks with each other as well as trees, ditches, deer, moose, etc and my experience is that in the accidents I saw, truck occupants fared far better than car occupants. This wasn't a test lab or controlled setting or whatever but actual field results and was not on the flat concrete surface of a test area but included the variables of daily life not possible with a controlled setting. Moreover, friends of mine were involved with police accident investigation as well as the longer term aspects of how the occupants fared. This incleded the non-typical accidents as well and I recall a small, but safe, BMW that got sucked ender the wheels of a rolling semi. Sorry, Charlie...

Bottom line....I'm keeping my truck for the enhanced safety results that I have personally witnessed and others can do as they choose and follow the advice they personally believe is in their best interests.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Wasn't it related to pickups and SUVs being more prone to rolling over in a crash and outside objects penetrating the passenger cabin, etc...?

The difference is that pickups and many SUVs are bodies bolted down to a steel frame. When you hit something, the vehicle stops but you don't. You hit the interior of the vehicle with sometimes lethal force. Cars are built with a unibody chassis that has crumple zones. The car may get totalled, but it gives the passenger much more time to come to a stop in an accident. The crumple zones absorb the energy of the impact before it gets to your body.

And yes, pickups and SUVs are much more likely to roll over. Rollover accidents are just 4% of all traffic accidents, but account for 86% of fatalities. The higher you sit off the road, the more dangerous your perch is. A pickup may be more useful than a car, but it is not safer.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Wasn't it related to pickups and SUVs being more prone to rolling over in a crash and outside objects penetrating the passenger cabin, etc...?

Duplicate post. I didn't think that was possible. Edited.

The higher you sit off the road, the more dangerous your perch is. A pickup may be more useful than a car, but it is not safer.

 

[aczlan]

The difference is that pickups and many SUVs are bodies bolted down to a steel frame. When you hit something, the vehicle stops but you don't. You hit the interior of the vehicle with sometimes lethal force. Cars are built with a unibody chassis that has crumple zones. The car may get totalled, but it gives the passenger much more time to come to a stop in an accident. The crumple zones absorb the energy of the impact before it gets to your body.

Not quite. My parents have a 1999 E350 (one ton 15 passenger van with a 7.3L Diesel) and it has crumple zones. Right behind the bumper the frame is corrugated and has cutouts to crumple on impact. If hitting something smaller, the phrase "you are my crumple zone" comes to mind.
Also in a larger mass vehicle, you will be less likley to "bounce back" in impact and as such, will be less likely to have whiplash.

And yes, pickups and SUVs are much more likely to roll over. Rollover accidents are just 4% of all traffic accidents, but account for 86% of fatalities. The higher you sit off the road, the more dangerous your perch is. A pickup may be more useful than a car, but it is not safer.

And how many rollover deaths were from idiots who couldn't be bothered to belt in before driving off?

Aaron Z