[Spridgets] 58 -67 Lap Belts

[Lester]

David I would strongly disagree,

having spoken to CEO's of SAAB some retired and some not I can tell  
you that safety has been a VERY big thing for a long time.  Even in  
the 70's when the SAAB CEO went to visit the Mercedes test facility  
the director showed him all the wrecks that Mercedes had used for  
testing and remarked that they, SAAB and Volvo were leading in safety  
testing for consumers.

I will certainly grant you that the "star" rating method is solely for  
the benefit of a test barrier but to say that a modern car is less  
safe than a Bugeye in any direction is absurd.  Those crumple zones  
are progressive and will take an enormous load.  Granted they will  
"total" cars frequently (That is an insurance term ) but folks walk  
away unscathed.  And for speeds much above 50 IIRC nothing short of a  
tank will keep you alive in a head on, there is just too much energy  
involved.

If you are remarking on the Bugeye ability to get out of the way of an  
accident then your argument is driver and situation dependent.  While  
it may be true in some circumstances it's like saying that a seat belt  
is only there to make it easy for EMS to find the body..

Lester


On Jun 30, 2009, at 4:40 PM, David Lieb wrote:

>>> It's designed precisely to take the impact and sacrifice itself  
>>> for the
>> greater good of the passenger  :-)
>>
> John,
> You have started believing the hype again. NO, they are designed to
> sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the CRASH TEST. Big  
> difference.
> When you invest all the time and money into computer modelling for
> survivability of a 35mph crash test, you can do an awesome job of  
> making
> things so that they absorb that particular impact very well. Now ask
> yourself what happens when the actual impact is at 55mph? That same  
> crumple
> zone keeps right on crumpling right through those passengers you  
> thought it
> was protecting. When you design to a benchmark, you lose a certain  
> amount of
> real-world value. I agree that some accidents will leave me more  
> injured in
> a Spridget than I would have been in my 2002 GTi. OTOH, other  
> accidents
> could kill me in my GTi and leave me injured but alive in my  
> Spridget. No, I
> am not interested in doing extensive research in the field; I prefer  
> the
> avoidance approach.
>
> BTW, they might not have been intentionally designed as crumple  
> zones, but
> take a look at what happens to the front frame rails in a Spridget  
> during a
> front end collision and you will find very functional crumple zones.
> David L
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