Hacker News Reader

Comment by wing-_-nuts | Hacker News Reader

I wish they regularly crash tested the same model car against it's older equivalent. Like a new honda civic against a 5-10y old honda civic. That would be very useful to see how safety technology has improved.

I have a 2006 miata, and I keep hearing that newer cars are now safer and that I should really think about upgrading, but it's hard to part with a paid off car that has been nothing if not reliable. It also has some sentimental value. It's the last remaining relic of my 20's

View on HN

Such a crash wouldn't tell you that much, also you would need to do 50 with various angles to have a definitive winner (of course it should be new one).

What is being done are standardized crash testings, so same environment, same speed, same obstacle, different results for each model. Even that us reduced to 0-5 stars for cateogry, no finer granularity. That's as much scientific as anybody is willing to do. I still don't consider it great since slight difference could mean very different outcomes, but for some reason manufacturers are not willing to part with 500 cars with various equipment mix to test them from all angles, speed and so on.

We can see some of that in IIHS driver death rate data. Of course it's just observational data and not a controlled experiment; for example, an affluent person who buys a Mercedes-Benz E-Class is probably going to drive more carefully than a "credit criminal" who buys a Nissan Altima. But you can see some general trends from real world crashes involving a lot of different speeds and angles.

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/driver-death-rates-by-make-and-...

You rock! This is very helpful, though as you point out it's difficult to separate higher death rates from the fact that certain driver types are drawn to certain cars.

One notable example:

Honda Civic 49 (29-69) 47 (28-65) 2019-20

Honda Civic hatchback 78 (26-130) 20 (0-44) 2019-20

I'd like to know what's happening with the data there that a small tweak in the model with almost no structural changes has a higher death rate. Maybe down to a lower sample (fewer sales of the hatchback) of more dangerous drivers

Well, they don't crash them into each other but there are testing programs that crash them into standard objects like concrete walls. Crashing the new model into the old won't tell you much. Vehicles generally get larger/heavier with each new model. All you would probably learn is that newer Miatas weight more than old ones. Some quick googling shows that modern Miatas are about 10% heavier than they were in the 90s, probably due to the increase to 1.8 from 1.6 liter engines.

1.8l engines were always an option.

car came out in 1989. 1.8 wasn’t an option till 1993.

I mean, I hear you, but crashing like for like is the best way to understand safety over generations. We also have to acknowledge that all cars have gotten heavier over time, and thus your 10 year old car is operating in a more hostile, less safe environment

>> all cars have gotten heavier over time

Yes but there is a specific phenomenon within individual models between years. The drive to make each iteration "better" on paper leads to added features/mass/size. Just look at what has happened to the Jeep Wrangler/TJ. It is a monster compared to even the 90s models.

Come on, no one buys a compact convertible sports car based on safety. The IIHS doesn't even bother to test the Miata. But you can check their ratings for some of the same tests across model years of different cars.

https://www.iihs.org/ratings

>no one buys a compact convertible sports car based on safety.

I mean yes, I know I'm making some compromises, but I'd still like to know exactly how much of a compromise as it is my daily driver.

My point remains the same, it would be nice if one could see how the safety has improved model for model over time.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com