Evidence against “Bigger is Safer” vs “Economical [smaller] is Less Safe” False Logic

In the debate over SUVs and larger vehicles being needed for “safety” over going smaller more economical, either for ecological or economical reasons, the data doesn’t match the “Status Quo” Conventional Wisdom pushed by many, including the “Global Warming Skeptics”. So let’s look at the “big” argument in favor of “Larger is Better”, and Semis versus Passenger Vehicles. [No this is not a male enhancement advertisement, heads out of the gutter please 😉 ]

Maybe a “factor” in choosing safety over economy, should be respecting the semi in the first place. Cut one off, drive in it’s blind spots, drive like an idiot around one, be accepting of Newton’s Law when it plows into you.

If your[the] logic were true, then we should all be driving actual tanks, but then we would not be safe from each other, so then we should upgrade to something larger to be safe?

How many of those accidents we caused by the driver in the car being “preoccupied” with other things; cell phone, makeup, eating, reading, etc. or just being an idiot and not respecting the semi and cut it off?

and just some information from Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

In 2005, large trucks accounted for 7% of all vehicle miles traveled and 3% of all registered vehicles in the United States. In motor vehicle crashes, large trucks represented:

* 8% of vehicles in fatal crashes
* 3% of vehicles in injury crashes
* 5% of vehicles in property-damage-only crashes.

So 92% of fatal accidents and 97% of injury crashes were not semi related? and further about blame of accident…

Drivers

* Only 1% of the drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes in 2005 were legally intoxicated (blood alcohol content of 0.08 grams per deciliter or higher), as compared with 22% of passenger car drivers and 21% of light truck drivers in fatal crashes. Only 2% of the drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes had any alcohol in their bloodstream.
* Seventy-seven percent of the drivers of large trucks involved in fatal crashes were reported by police as wearing their safety belts, compared with 61% of passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes.
* In fatal crashes involving large trucks, driver-related factors were cited for 39% of the large truck drivers. In comparison, driver-related factors were noted for 66% of passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes. Some of the most common factors cited for drivers of large trucks and drivers of passenger vehicles were the same: driving too fast, failure to keep in proper lane, inattention, and failure to yield the right of way.

Hmm, passenger vehicles are 22 times more likely to have alcohol in their system and almost twice as likely to have caused the accident due to “inattention” etc. and finally,

In all two-vehicle fatal crashes involving a large truck and a passenger vehicle, the passenger vehicle struck the large truck more often than the reverse—54% versus 40%.

I like this one, passenger vehicles are more likely to hit semi’s than the other way around. Apparently, many people to not apply Newton’s Law when driving.

so honestly, you’re reasoning behind larger being safer doesn’t hold as much statistical evidence as you claim. I safer driver in a compact vehicle is more likely to “drive” away, than a “large vehicle” driver involved with an accident with a semi, due to driver negligence.

Statements of “Bigger is better” often times do not match statistical data to the contrary 🙂