Quote: Originally posted by James 182 on 06 December 2004My point is cars arnt safe, theyre soft like cheese but people think theyll be fine becase metal is tougher than skin...
I couldnt agree with that more. Actually it annoys me that some car makers, in particular Ford over recent years, have marketed their cars using young children in the back seat with teddy bears and what not. It has always annoyed me.
Its high time we saw some public information programmes on TV, showing what even the safest car looks like after a proper accident.
I think it was Top Gear or 5th Gear that did a test a while back - two remote controlled real cars, driving at 60 mph, which many of us feel safe at, were driven head on...closing speed of 120mph into a dead stop. Each car was minced meat and there would have been NO survivors. Think about that next time youre driving safely at 60mph on a country lane...are you sure you can make that overtake safely? Food for thought.
Sorry, dont mean to be morbid or a judge of drivers. I just feel that most of us really dont realise that our cars are basically made of tin foil. Even the safest cars are tombs if you crash into anything solid at 40mph or above, and a head on impact on a country lane is game over.
My moto is enjoy your car but always know you can stop if theres a anything round that next corner.
For the record a I had a nasty exereince a few years back, where I was driving at what I thought was an ok speed round a corner...lets just say someone was using my side of the road coming the other way...luckily I managed to steer into what was luckily a soft ditch, and end up on my roof facing the wrong way. Had I hit the guy, I wouldnt be posting this. To be honest Ive always driven like a pussy ever since, although I still have fun when I feel like its safe...mainly at night when you can see if theres any oncoming cars.
