[RahulNagaraj]

According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), bigger SUVs don't guarantee better safety in a crash.



The agency recently showcased this by testing three mammoth body-on-frame SUV models - wherein all three of them failed to protect second-row occupants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3S0Qf37b8s

IIHS put crash test dummies in three popular SUVs: Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition & Jeep Wagoneer. While all three SUVs passed the front and side-impact tests, the safety of second-row occupants is what the agency was worried about. IIHS stated, "Measurements taken from the rear dummy showed a fairly high risk of chest injuries because of high seatbelt forces."

David Harkey, President of IIHS, stated, "The huge mass of these large SUVs provides some additional protection in crashes with smaller vehicles, though that also means they present more danger to other road users. The flip side of their large size is that there is a lot more force to manage when they crash into a fixed obstacle, like a tree or bridge abutment or the barrier we use in our front crash tests."

Source: Autoblog

Link to Team-BHP news

[dhanushs]

The bigger SUV's will have more metal & space and hence easy for engineers to design better strategies in crash safety using the Chassis & BIW.

However, BIG=MORE MASS and beyond a point, that's always difficult to dampen to safe levels on point impacts.

[GS2323]

What I can infer from all that has been published on the front of car safety is that SUVs are a safer bet for one looking to shield themselves from other vehicles on the road who will crash into you, however, while driving it still depends upon how mature a driver you really are.

Despite all the data available, I still wonder which car will be safer in a head-on collision, a 1-star rated Bolero Neo or a 4-star rated Tiago?

[xjosephjacob]

Originally Posted by GS2323

Despite all the data available, I still wonder which car will be safer in a head-on collision, a 1-star rated Bolero Neo or a 4-star rated Tiago?

In a head-on collision, the difference in vehicle weight greatly affects the crash outcome. Purely from the standpoint of the forces experienced by the passengers in a head-on impact, the Tata Tiago stands no chance against a 2 ton body on frame Bolero Neo.

[SuperGirl_Dad]

Originally Posted by GS2323

Despite all the data available, I still wonder which car will be safer in a head-on collision, a 1-star rated Bolero Neo or a 4-star rated Tiago?

Originally Posted by xjosephjacob

In a head-on collision, the difference in vehicle weight greatly affects the crash outcome. Purely from the standpoint of the forces experienced by the passengers in a head-on impact, the Tata Tiago stands no chance against a 2 ton body on frame Bolero Neo.

"Tata Tiago stands no chance against a 2 ton body on frame Bolero Neo" Are you sure about this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDyeWofcLY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLLanPwRgio

Please take a look at these. Clever engineering can overcome brute mass accelerated towards you.

[sachin_cs]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

bigger SUVs don't guarantee better safety in a crash.

Thank you very much! The higher mass, higher c-o-g also makes the tall vehicles slightly less agile to let’s say when compared to a polo. I have personally experienced it in many occasions when I had to make some last moment manoeuvre e.g. when someone jumped from divider in front of my car in middle of the highway, I managed to swerve at the right time. That got me thinking, had I been driving some other large car, would the result have been same?

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

The bigger SUV's will have more metal & space and hence easy for engineers to design better strategies in crash safety using the Chassis & BIW.

However, BIG=MORE MASS and beyond a point, that's always difficult to dampen to safe levels on point impacts.

Let me assure you, there is never a technical reason for not increasing safety, it is always a cost consideration at which point to stop. Nothing else.

Jeroen

[ashpkd]

Originally Posted by SuperGirl_Dad

Please take a look at these. Clever engineering can overcome brute mass accelerated towards you.

Wow thats some good test. It clearly shows SUVs doesn't mean better protection though that's what most people think.

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by xjosephjacob

In a head-on collision, the difference in vehicle weight greatly affects the crash outcome. Purely from the standpoint of the forces experienced by the passengers in a head-on impact, the Tata Tiago stands no chance against a 2 ton body on frame Bolero Neo.

Originally Posted by GS2323

What I can infer from all that has been published on the front of car safety is that SUVs are a safer bet for one looking to shield themselves from other vehicles on the road who will crash into you, however, while driving it still depends upon how mature a driver you really are.

Despite all the data available, I still wonder which car will be safer in a head-on collision, a 1-star rated Bolero Neo or a 4-star rated Tiago?

https://youtu.be/TJzZ7-Od6KY?si=QF_Ivn6cPWigb5mM&t=34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6oefRKWmY

These two videos should help you analyse it better. Not saying the tiago is as well built as a Smart but it should dispel some misconceptions.

[ron178]

The point to note is the IIHS small overlap test (where the Expedition tanked) takes place against a fixed, rigid barrier representing a tree or other roadside object. Even the moderate overlap test simulates a crash with a car of similar weight.

IIHS themselves have shown on multiple occasions how size matters in a crash between two cars, even when the smaller one has good crash test performance against a fixed deformable barrier.

https://youtu.be/Ei1BD3FrEJs?si=OrHtyI1LwlawIrwq

https://youtu.be/HN-NBkTMewA?si=4uMbeHLNbfaEfWU8

There is even more available on IIHS TechData (the portal where they publish media from their research experiments) but it is not intended for public release.

Not that it matters because someone has posted it anyway:

https://youtu.be/RjDevJ07QH0?si=hAtEyoekF6yg3Ceq

There is other research that shows the structure of both cars also has a big role: horizontally and vertically well-connected crumple zones have better compatibility in car-to-car crashes than those with localised stiff structures.

[SuperGirl_Dad]

Originally Posted by ron178

IIHS themselves have shown on multiple occasions how size matters in a crash between two cars, even when the smaller one has good crash test performance against a fixed deformable barrier.

https://Youtu.be/Ei1BD3FrEJs?si=OrHtyI1LwlawIrwq

There is other research that shows the structure of both cars also has a big role: horizontally and vertically well-connected crumple zones have better compatibility in car-to-car crashes than those with localised stiff structures.

Dear ron178, thank you very much for bringing this important aspect. I fully agree with the point you have made, regarding size does matter (of equally well engineered cars in its respective segment eg., Yaris vs Camry). In the query by the member regarding "Bolero Neo would squish the Tiago in a head on crash", Bolero Neo scored 1 star in its own crash test. Will the size matters still hold true?

[xjosephjacob]

Originally Posted by SuperGirl_Dad

Please take a look at these. Clever engineering can overcome brute mass accelerated towards you.

Originally Posted by Cresterk

[url]

These two videos should help you analyse it better. Not saying the tiago is as well built as a Smart but it should dispel some misconceptions.

Thank you You may also want to check out reports (and actual data) from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute on this topic. Just sharing a couple of them:

https://www.iihs.org/topics/vehicle-size-and-weight


https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality...er-death-rates

[ron178]

One more thing to note is the updated moderate overlap (with a rear seat dummy) is a very new test and I don’t think there is any significant trend in protection against segment, all have mostly poor or marginal performers and a few exceptions.

If I recall correctly Mazda is the only one to have consistently aced it. Not sure about Subaru.

The only surprising thing for me was the Ford Expedition in the (different, older) small overlap test which had severe structural issues. The others had trouble only in the other test which is usually because of bad rear-seat restraints (badly calibrated pretensioners/loadlimiters or none at all, lap belts slipping from the pelvis to the abdomen, etc) and not once (in any segment) because of structure.

Originally Posted by SuperGirl_Dad

In the query by the member regarding "Bolero Neo would squish the Tiago in a head on crash", Bolero Neo scored 1 star in its own crash test. Will the size matters still hold true?

AFAIK it depends on the geometry of the crumple zone of the Bolero Neo and not its crashworthiness per se. The Bolero Neo’s chassis is a 20 year old design and I sincerely doubt it has a compatibility-friendly crumple zone design. So most likely its longitudinals would override or ‘dynamically pitch’ over the Tiago’s and the cars would likely suffer footwell and fascia intrusion respectively because of the poor compatibility alone.

If we were to neglect compatibility effects I suppose it would be harder to predict which one would have better self-protection because although the deceleration pulse on a Bolero Neo and Tiago from a 50-to-50 crash would be less and more severe respectively than ODB at 64km/h, there is a significant difference in their crashworthiness.

[ron178]

IIHS on why the Ford Expedition received a Marginal rating in the small overlap test:

https://youtu.be/BSA-iCM23lo?si=lOgk6YUddwld-IC2

[volkman10]

Taller vehicles are more dangerous for pedestrians.

As speeds increase, so does the likelihood of a serious pedestrian injury. But if the vehicle involved is taller, the results are worse.
Researchers analyzed 202 pedestrian crashes and discovered that as vehicle speeds went up, so did the likelihood of a serious pedestrian injury. That's no surprise. The IIHS also discovered that the risk of serious injury was magnified when the vehicle involved had a taller front end.
According to the IIHS, these findings suggest the current 25-mph speed limit commonly used in residential neighborhoods and city centers might be too high. New York City confirmed in October plans to reduce speed limits on some of its roads to 20 mph, focusing on streets near schools and shared roads.

The results of this study coincide with a previous study released by the IIHS in November 2023, which suggested vehicles with vertical, boxier front ends are more deadly for pedestrians.

Link: