Hello, I am writing in response to several concerns about the note on crashtest.com saying that the data should not be compared in cars with large weight differences. The cars are not tested by crashtest.com. They are tested by http://www.nhtsa.gov/ and all get some # of stars from 1 to 5. Moreover they are tested using the same techniques and parameters regardless of vehicle weight. Here is what they say:
"For testing frontal collisions, crash-test dummies are placed in driver and front passenger seats and secured with the vehicle's seat belts. Vehicles are crashed into a fixed barrier at 35 miles per hour (mph), which is equivalent to a head-on collision between two similar vehicles each moving at 35 mph. Since the test reflects a crash between two similar vehicles, make sure you compare vehicles from the same weight class, � 250 lbs., when looking at frontal crash protection ratings." I interpret this as saying don't compare that cars with large weight differences should not be compared since large weight vehicles will be less affected by collisions with smaller vehicles. However, if I compare the safety of a car as it is hitting a wall producing very large impulse upon collision, this does not matter and ratings can thus be compared. Sure, if you drive a tank down the road you will get minimal damage even in a large collison, but this still does not mean that driving a tank into a wall is particularly safe. Thus I think that the data can be used and compared within an approx 2000 to 6000 lb weight range without worry. . . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
