Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: VOLVO info
From: james@koko.csustan.edu (Jonas Grumpy)
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 92 22:36:56 GMT
Organization: CSU Stanislaus

In article <1992Sep1.213557.29738@meaddata.com> nick@meaddata.com (Nick Gough) writes:
>In article <4900@balrog.ctron.com>, smith@ctron.com (Larry Smith) writes:
>|> In article <2797709659@gimli.bio.purdue.edu>, news@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (USENET News) writes:
>|> 
>|> >The combination of a good seat-belt system and Volvo's crumple 
>|> >zones and frame construction really do work.
>|> 
>|> Any car with 3-pt seat belts has a "good seatbelt system", and all cars sold
>|> in this country have crumple zones.  The NHTSA rates the all Volvos midpack

stuff deleted.

NOT TRUE!!  
   Several manufacturers have seatbelts that will not always latch and break
from their mounts. I think gm was one of them.


>|> it plays.  As one for the safety of a car whose virtues are undetectable by
>|> the objective scientific criteria of actual crash testing, it does not.
>|> 
>|> Larry Smith (smith@ctron.com)  No, I don't speak for Cabletron.  Need you ask?
>|> -
>|> How about we all do something reasonable?  I bet that'll confuse 'em!
>
>Crumple zones on US cars are a recently new idea. Volvo, M-B, BMW, Saab & VW/
>Audi have had them for years... and they work.
>I have seen & heard of many accidents where Volvos have been involved, some
>at highway and racing speeds (on a track). Most of the occupants who had their
>seatbelts on survived with minor cuts and bruises. SOme of these accidents
>even involved the car sliding on its roof at 65mph (the occupants were uninjured
>and the car had not even one broken window, thus no flying glass). Another
>was a race car, where the thing flipped a number of times with the roof not even
>collapsing to the roll cage.
>
>Volvos are affordable and probably one of the safest cars in the world. Just
>because cars have air bags, doesn't mean that they are safe (look at the claim
>that the Chrysler mini-van airbags are not "safe" enough for use in cars, so
>they're used in the mini vans... I think that I got that correct... going on
>memory here).
>
>Volvos were used by the US Govt to establish baselines back in the 70's and
>80's. They have kept up & improved upon their desings.
>
>Insurance for a Volvo is lower than for a comparable-sized US car, BTW.
>(everything else being equal).
>
>I don't mean to pick nits or start a flame war, just voice my opinions on
>my observations. As someone once said, if everyone drove the same car (or,
>had the same job, or acted as clones... to drive this point in the ground),
>then life, would, indeed, be very boring, wouldn't it?
>
>Enjoy your automobile choice and drive safely, as that is the most important
>aspect of safety... accident avoidence.
>
>
>Nick
>_______________________________________________________________________________
>|Nick Gough          |"You cannot depend on your eyes |   (513) 865-6800/x5721
>|Mead Data Central   |when your imagination is out of |Engineering Productivity
>|P.O. Box 933        |focus." -     Mark Twain        | nick@meaddata.com
>|Dayton, Ohio  45401 |                                |...!uunet!meaddata!nick
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

Absolute agreement here! In general european cars are usually MUCH safer
than their international counterparts. If you think american cars are unsafe
think again. While the japanese tout "gold plated contacts" and
"crumple zones like volvos" They are the most dangerous cars on the road.
Their cars are structurally lacking at best and downright deathtraps at
worst. This is why their own government recently published a report that
said thier cars are very dangerous. They found japanese cars had thin
metal, unsafe placement of fuel tanks and poor roof crush resistance.
some people think that if they buy a big japanese car like alexus or inf
they will fair better in a crash. Hah! these cars are nothing more that
leather trim 4500lb corrollas and sentras.
-- 
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