45mph (the crash test speed) ALL cars are fairly safe… Once you hit 65-70, it makes little difference. They pick you up with a sponge and a scraper.
Unfortunately, the 2009 Civic only gets four starts for side impact. When I say “I would feel perfectly safe in any car with a five star crash test rating by the NTSHA,” it means one that gets five stars in each category.
Keep in mind that the Civic is the current darling of the teenage hotrod crowd. The car itself is probably as good in a crash as others, but the loss stats may be higher due to many Civic drivers being testosterone addled fools.
Nothing against testosterone addled fools you understand, I was one once.
Here is some evidence that a safe driver is the most important factor.
Still think vehicle size makes you safer? The same blow-out on a small coupe would probably not have led to a rollover.
You Tricky, Tricky Ron-Man! How’d I Know That It Involved A Ford Exploder Before I Even Clicked Your Link? You Can’t Fool Me!
Evidence? Great Example!
One person out of 9 had a seat belt on. Nine people in an Exploder can only make a relatively short-wheel based, high-center-of-gravity vehicle even more top heavy. Those vehicles were known for their high speed agility, right? That’s not a large car, it’s a truck! I’ve never considered them to be safe.
Oh, and I suppose all 9 kids in a small coupe would have been just fine . . . if they weren’t suffocated prior to the crash!
Either vehicle, if all nine had had their seat belts on the number of deaths would probably have been lower. Wait a minute . . . nine seat belts?
CSA
Still, the whole thing could have been prevented if the driver had exercised better judgment. Back in my high school days my parents stressed automotive safety and I always insisted my passengers buckle up. I was afraid of a tragedy like this one. I didn’t want the guilt of something like this on my head and these things happen often enough that I would have had to work pretty hard to not learn from them. I couldn’t have fit nine people into my car no matter how hard I tried. Parents buy their kids these large top-heavy SUVs because they think they are safer than small cars. That is a fallacy, especially when the driver is inexperienced.
Anyway, I feel really bad for the families. A fourth child just died at the hospital and others are in critical condition.
I didn’t look at NHTSA data, but HLDI offset crashe and side crash data. But…
I accept the challenge!
NHTSA rates the Kia Optima as 5 stars across the board. Yet, HLDI data shows that the Optima has among the worst payouts for medical. How safe is that?
Ron-Man, Now That I Can Agree With, Just About The Whole Thing!
CSA
the driver was 15, he shouldn’t have even been behind the wheel without parent supervision.