There are so many people who truly believe ridiculous bullshit with regard to driving.
People have been telling me that SUVs are safer cars (questionable) or that higher powered cars are safer (highly questionable) or that driving slower than the speed limit increases the risk of accidents (no comment).
If this score provides real time feedback to people based on real world data, maybe it can help change somebodys mind. Maybe it can nudge people to become slightly safer drivers.
Nit: this is accurate when all others are driving the speed limit (or greater), given the likelihood of accidents increases as speed differential increases.
there's a good correlation (not 1:1 but still, quite good) between car performances and their ability to corner and their braking distance. a fast car driven by an idiot is going to make him more dangerous, but in the hand of an average driver will serve him well in all the emergency maneuver he'll find himself doing.
and how are SUVs not safer, given they have more mass and a larger crunch zone? also, since the driver is seated higher he can see more what is going on in front of him (a fee small cars ahead)
That helps in a head on collission with a smaller car. But it's even safer if you don't collide with anything in the first place.
SUVs have longer breaking distance because of their mass, and because they are higher they don't corner as well and are at higher risk of tipping over.
These factors increase the risk of dangerous accidents versus a normal car.
Also, around 50% of lethal accidents don't involve a second car at all. If you crash into a concrete wall, or if you run off the road, it doesn't matter that your car is bigger, you are still screwed.
The safest car is the one that doesn't get into an accident in the first place, and bigger cars are not necessarily better in that regard.