[11Past9]

I would have lost the bet...

[stickypaws]

Crumple zones FTW.

[ChrisV]

Couple things...

Notice how much rust was coming off the older car in the video. it wasn't in good shape to start with.

Second, while it may not have fared well in THIS crash, it managed to avoid a fatal crash for 50 years.... Think about that.

According to NHTSA statistics, only 3% of drivers get into crashes every year, and half of those daren't even hard enough to cause injury. meaning, 97% of drivers every do not get into crashes. it's extremely easy to avoid fatal crahses, or crashes of the severity of the one in the video. Iv'e easily avoided that sort of situation for over 30 years of driveing, and I've driven cars of that era in modern traffic.

Sure, you can't avoid ALL accidents. But you can pay attention and minimize the effects of a minor fender bender pretty easily, even in an old car.

We need to stop living in fear of things that are of statistically very low probability. People are so afrtaid that they are going to crash and die the moment they get in a car, especially an old car.

The ease in which you can avoid an accident in a car over the course of your life means that worrying about your car's crash statistics is the first step in abdicating responsibility for your part in avoiding a crash in the first place, by making the pre-determination that it's unavoidable. That becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, as you've already resigned yourself to it happening, even if you try to act like you're "doing your best to stay out of trouble."

Seriously, 90% of any skill, from driving to your career, is in just deciding that yes, you can, and no other option exists.

So while it's an interesting exercise to see how a 1958 car stacks up against a modern car, using that to determine safety is ultimately pointless, as it feeds the mindset that it's inevitable. But the fact that a car can survive 50+ years says it isn't.

[LI E90]

I guess the old adage......... they don't build them like they used to.... built like a tank... etc...... doesn't really apply

[quagmire]

Originally Posted by ChrisV

Couple things...

Notice how much rust was coming off the older car in the video. it wasn't in good shape to start with.

Second, while it may not have fared well in THIS crash, it managed to avoid a fatal crash for 50 years.... Think about that.

According to NHTSA statistics, only 3% of drivers get into crashes every year, and half of those daren't even hard enough to cause injury. meaning, 97% of drivers every do not get into crashes. it's extremely easy to avoid fatal crahses, or crashes of the severity of the one in the video. Iv'e easily avoided that sort of situation for over 30 years of driveing, and I've driven cars of that era in modern traffic.

Sure, you can't avoid ALL accidents. But you can pay attention and minimize the effects of a minor fender bender pretty easily, even in an old car.

We need to stop living in fear of things that are of statistically very low probability. People are so afrtaid that they are going to crash and die the moment they get in a car, especially an old car.

The ease in which you can avoid an accident in a car over the course of your life means that worrying about your car's crash statistics is the first step in abdicating responsibility for your part in avoiding a crash in the first place, by making the pre-determination that it's unavoidable. That becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, as you've already resigned yourself to it happening, even if you try to act like you're "doing your best to stay out of trouble."

Seriously, 90% of any skill, from driving to your career, is in just deciding that yes, you can, and no other option exists.

So while it's an interesting exercise to see how a 1958 car stacks up against a modern car, using that to determine safety is ultimately pointless, as it feeds the mindset that it's inevitable. But the fact that a car can survive 50+ years says it isn't.

I doubt anyone would give up a classic Bel-Air in good shape to be absolutely destroyed.

[11Past9]

Originally Posted by quagmire

I doubt anyone would give up a classic Bel-Air in good shape to be absolutely destroyed.

But people have no problems destroying 20 1968 Dodge Chargers for a movie...

[vAnt826]

I actually thought the Malibu would have just plowed right through it with minimal damage.