The automotive industry, the insurance industry, and drivers themselves all seem to recognize that smaller cars and their occupants suffer disproportionately in wrecks with larger vehicles. Part of the cause is a problem we Pearland, TX car accident lawyers tend to call “aggressivity.” Frustrated drivers of larger vehicles find some satisfaction in trying to dominate, intimidate and outpace smaller vehicles. Unfortunately, this behavior leads to a fair number of road accidents.
But few automotive crash safety tests pit different sized vehicles against each other to test crashworthiness in wrecks with larger vehicles. So researchers at the University of California, Berkeley conducted an extensive study on the safety of small car passengers involved in wrecks with larger vehicles. They determined that for every 1,000 pounds of relative mass that the larger vehicle has over the vehicle that you’re in, the chance of death from the accident goes up by 47%. That’s right: if the vehicle that hits you is only 1,000 pounds heavier than yours, your chances of perishing in the car wreck increase by almost half.
A car 1,000 pounds heavier than yours may not be much bigger than your car, and may even be in the same vehicle class (such as compact or mid-sized). So you can imagine how your chances of injury and death really go up in confrontations with much larger vehicles. Imagine a tiny smart car against a Ford Explorer, or a Chevy Aveo against a Hummer. The Berkeley study also shows that taller vehicles tend to cause more damage to smaller profile cars in a car wreck. This is because the taller vehicles have a higher center of gravity, and their bumper may clear yours if you’re in a smaller car. Basically, the larger car can drive on into the smaller car.
You should note that the dangers from greater vehicle mass in a car wreck aren’t tied solely to a vehicle’s size. Relative mass increases with velocity, so even where you’re hit by the same size of vehicle, if that car is driving faster than yours, it will do more damage to you. Our Pearland, TX car accident lawyers caution you to not take this to mean that driving faster will increase your safety factor in a car wreck. It won’t. Driving faster will actually increase your chances of having a car wreck. Your chances of a rollover resulting from loss of vehicle stability increase, and your chances of losing traction on turns and curves increases as well when you up your speed.