11-30-2009, 06:50 AM
space-time wrote:
[quote=C(-)ris]
[quote=DavidS]
In high school, I hydroplaned around a corner into a fire hydrant. I was driving my 1988 Chevy Impala. I knocked the fire hydrant off it's base (yes, water sprayed out but to the side, not up into my car), put a nice sized dent in my front bumper, and took out the grill above the bumper. Other than the cosmetic issues, my car was fine. This was obviously before airbags.
Your lucky, you could probably drive away from that accident. These days your dashboard would be destroyed, you would need 2 new airbags, a new front bumper( because it is cheap crap plastic) and the medics would have had to come to fix your face from getting hit by the airbag.
are you saying that 20 years ago cars were safer than today's models?
I'm saying that while they may be safer in certain collisions, there are others types of lower speed collisions where older cars fair much better for both the occupants and the repair bill.
For example, a 15 mph hit on a fire hydrant with a 20 year old Impala vs a brand new Impala. On the old car you would have a dent on the bumper and be fine. On a new car you would have to replace half the front end, your dash board from airbag damage, the bags themselves, and probably the windshield because those parts all get damaged from the airbags. In no way did those airbags make the car any safer. There was no risk of getting whiplash or hitting anything since the fire hydrant gets ripped out of the ground and doesn't slow the car down that much.