I know a lot of people, and they all deceived into thinking that their big truck/SUV is safer than my little car. They’re all very wrong for many reasons. Let me tell you why.
Collapsable Design
I mean, sure, if a big truck/SUV collides with my car, my car will be totaled, guaranteed. That’s precisely how they are designed.
A modern compact car is incredibly safe. The outside of the car will be absolutely destroyed. It’s is designed to take an impact and to direct it to the entire rest of the outside of the car. This means the inner cabin is not touched.
Okay, you’ll just have to trust me on that. Engineers are smarter than you and I, so they can figure out how. At least Japanese (Honda) engineers. Your truck/SUV is fine, too, but the purpose of this section is to say that no, car owners won’t immediately die.
But I have real talking points that aren’t just things I’m making out of air.
Confidence
People in big trucks/SUVs, generally, think they’re invincible.
They speed; they are aggressive, and just generally drive like a holes. If there’s not a way to pass a car, don’t tail them. Remember, if they need to stop, they’ll stop faster than you, you’re totally liable. I know if you tail me then rear end me, my plan is to make you liable for as m much as I can. My neck is really messed up from you rear-ending me.
The reason I have no pity? You were in a hurry because you didn’t plan for the weather (read “planned poorly”). If you plan poorly, accept the fact that you’ll be late, and it’s all your fault.
You think this is your vehicle:
Responsiveness
M my car is tremendously more responsive. It has way less momentum. Let’s imaging it’s all ice outside. Sheets.
Neither of our vehicles will stop by applying the breaks.
My car slows down faster from coasting. But let’s be honest, my car is noticeably slowed down from running over that bump, manhole, or snow. Or I can use those slight road obstacles to help me stear, because remember, our tires don’t do anything in the ice if they turn, etc.
Stopping and Turning
You’re thinking “I can stop – my truck is heavy.” Heavy things have more gravity.” I think you’re a very foolish person. You probably can stop better going up hill, maybe. It’s ice. You can’t turn, accelerate, or stop. Your car has anti-lock brakes. Good job. It’s irrelevant on ice. Your giant truck/SUV has a lot of momentum. There is only one kind of tire that has grip on ice:
Too bad tire chains aren’t legal in Minnesota. Your taxes are high enough in Minnesota, and construction is bad enough.
Acceleration
You can accelerate in your truck. Your truck compacts the snow, which becomes ice. Then your wheels spin. A lot of people think they will go by spinning their tires. Keep spinning!
Guess what? Your truck/SUV has four tires. My car does, too. That means that you have the same footprint to make a lot more mass move. It’s not going to do it very easily.
Also, while I’ve never seen it, I swear I’ll laugh when your spinny wheels grip the ground because they dig down to the ground, then your car is going to fly forward and crash or something.
My car, on the other hand, doesn’t need to grip the pavement. It can crawl across the power, and my lightweight car stays on top of the snow. Well, it’s not really on top, but I imagine it is. In reality, it takes a lot less force to move my car, which means I can ease into the snow.
I accelerate slowly.
It drives people behind me absolutely crazy. I’m always in control, even if I could go faster by compromising that.
While I’m totally an easy-going guy, when I’m driving (and only when I’m driving), I’m kind of a control freak.
I’ll tell you how and why in my next post.
