This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 9:28 am and is filed under Traffic safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
How We Drive is the companion blog to Tom Vanderbilt’s New York Times bestselling book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), published by Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S. and Canada, Penguin in the U.K, and in languages other than English by a number of other fine publishers worldwide.
Please send tips, news, research papers, links, photos (bad road signs, outrageous bumper stickers, spectacularly awful acts of driving or parking or anything traffic-related), or ideas for my Slate.com Transport column to me at: info@howwedrive.com.
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April 9, 2008.
California Office of Traffic Safety Summit
San Francisco, CA.
May 19, 2009
University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies
Bloomington, MN
June 23, 2009
Driving Assessment 2009
Big Sky, Montana
June 26, 2009
PRI World Congress
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
June 27, 2009
Day of Architecture
Utrecht, The Netherlands
July 13, 2009
Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals (ATSIP)
Phoenix, AZ.
August 12-14
Texas Department of Transportation “Save a Life Summit”
San Antonio, Texas
September 2, 2009
Governors Highway Safety Association Annual Meeting
Savannah, Georgia
September 11, 2009
Oregon Transportation Summit
Portland, Oregon
October 8
Honda R&D Americas
Raymond, Ohio
October 10-11
INFORMS Roundtable
San Diego, CA
October 21, 2009
California State University-San Bernardino, Leonard Transportation Center
San Bernardino, CA
November 5
Southern New England Planning Association Planning Conference
Uncasville, Connecticut
January 6
Texas Transportation Forum
Austin, TX
January 19
Yale University
(with Donald Shoup; details to come)
Monday, February 22
Yale University School of Architecture
Eero Saarinen Lecture
Friday, March 19
University of Delaware
Delaware Center for Transportation
April 5-7
University of Utah
Salt Lake City
McMurrin Lectureship
April 19
International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (Organization Management Workshop)
Austin, Texas
Monday, April 26
Edmonton Traffic Safety Conference
Edmonton, Canada
Monday, June 7
Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Wednesday, July 6
Fondo de Prevención Vial
Bogotá, Colombia
Tuesday, August 31
Royal Automobile Club
Perth, Australia
Wednesday, September 1
Australasian Road Safety Conference
Canberra, Australia
Wednesday, September 22
Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s
Traffic Incident Management Enhancement Program
Statewide Conference
Wisconsin Dells, WI
Wednesday, October 20
Rutgers University
Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
Piscataway, NJ
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Ontario Injury Prevention Resource Centre
Injury Prevention Forum
Toronto
Monday, May 2
Idaho Public Driver Education Conference
Boise, Idaho
Tuesday, June 2, 2011
California Association of Cities
Costa Mesa, California
Sunday, August 21, 2011
American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Attitudes: Iniciativa Social de Audi
Madrid, Spain
April 16, 2012
Institute for Sensible Transport Seminar
Gardens Theatre, QUT
Brisbane, Australia
April 17, 2012
Institute for Sensible Transport Seminar
Centennial Plaza, Sydney
Sydney, Australia
April 19, 2012
Institute for Sensible Transport Seminar
Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne, Australia
January 30, 2013
University of Minnesota City Engineers Association Meeting
Minneapolis, MN
January 31, 2013
Metropolis and Mobile Life
School of Architecture, University of Toronto
February 22, 2013
ISL Engineering
Edmonton, Canada
March 1, 2013
Australian Road Summit
Melbourne, Australia
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October 6th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I’m confident that small cars have many other advantages as well, which are unfortunately un-documentable.
If a collision is imminent, the common reaction is to brake and swerve. In a small car, that means you might avoid the collision. In a heavier vehicle, that means you might roll, or not be able to stop in time to avoid the collision. So even if all reports say that a big car is safer, they miss ALL the data of how many collisions are avoided by small cars which were able to maneuver away from a collision.
October 6th, 2009 at 11:29 am
While cycling recently, came across a scene with numerous police cars blocking an interception. The relatively new SUV was completely upside down and the only damage (besides to the roof) was a dent in the passenger door, no broken glass. The SUV was attempting a quick left and rolled over after being hit by a small car. One of the officers said “we see this all the time – the center of gravity on these large vehicles is so high”.
Amusingly he wanted to talk about my 35 year old bike and asked how I kept it looking like new. By the way, no one was injured in the “accident”.
October 6th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
I agree with Andy. Larger cars carry more momentum, and a lot more force is required to change the speed or direction of the mass. So smaller cars are better able to avoid the collision than larger cars.
The problem only gets worse as the center of gravity gets higher, such is as in SUVs and larger trucks. The higher center of gravity plus the greater mass significantly increase the likelihood of rolling.
The last time I looked at the data, modern mid-size sedans were among the safest vehicles out there for the occupants (SUVs and trucks among the worst).
So if you can’t avoid the accident, you’re likely safer in a modern mid-size than a modern compact. That would be an interesting video to see….
October 7th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Agree with Eric…in a 2009, 3000 pound car against a small 2009, 1800 pound car, the larger car, because of its mass, will better protect the occupants, just as school buses, because of their mass, almost always have few injuries to the occupants, as long as they stay upright, and collide with a smaller vehicle–usually the case. The mass of the vehicle helps protect the occupants. As was indicated in the video, it’s very difficult for the designer of a small car to dissipate the energy in a collision to the car versus the occupants. Bicycles and motorcycles, of course, offer little or no protection to the driver.