Anyone else wondering about the safety of carseats...

[3 ladybugs]

now that the new cafe standards have been released? http://www.freep.com/article/2012082...sey=nav%7Chead I know this isn't for a while (13 years) but I can't imagine what they would have to cut out of my minivan to make it so that it would get 50 mpg!! Would I have toilet paper as doors? A car that I would have to balance the weight in, in order to get out of the driveway (thinking Flintstone-ish)? Optional backseats that are made of cardboard?

I don't think I will have a newborn then, but I will likely still have a child in a carseat then. Is bubble wrap an option around a child? Would it help?

[monica-m]

They will still have to meet safety standards and those are improving slowly but surely. The political climate may change and this may get thrown out. The automakers have known that changes like this were on the horizon, I'm sure it comes as no huge surprise to them. They will have to step up their collective game or they will have to look harder at alternative fuels.

ETA: No, I don't think bubble wrap would make a difference

[jjordan]

Here's my take on it. More fuel efficient cars means lighter cars (usually). Pair up a light car and a heavy car and the heavy car wins (in a crash). So, yes, the cars will pass crash tests individually, but crash tests simulate a crash where a vehicle hits another car its same size (or something like a tree. But there is no crash test that I know of that simulates two differently-sized cars crashing together.). If a new (light) car hits an old (heavy) car, then I absolutely would be concerned.

I guess it will be interesting to see how this goes, and how much lighter the new cars are.

[rosefall]

So much will depend on how far safety technology comes at the same time.

My mom loves to argue that the cars of the 60s and 70s were safer than the cars of today, but that's just not true. She's mostly basing that idea on the fact that a car from the 70s is more likely to survive the crash than today's car, not necessarily that the person inside would. In an old tank of a car, the frame is rigid and survives, but the force of the wreck was transferred to the passengers (who also didn't have safety belts). In a modern car, the forces of the wreck are more distributed through the car by crumple zones and other technologies, so the force experienced by the passengers is less.

I would expect that in the time that the requirements need to be met, either the safety technology will improve enough that it doesn't create a more dangerous situation, or the requirements will be revised to something automakers can actually accomplish without compromising safety.

[bama]

50 MPG?! I guess cars like mine will become extinct. I love my SUV. and I totally agree with this

Critics say the new standards will make cars too costly for average Americans and that the regulations favor the Detroit Three truck makers.

[3 ladybugs]

Maybe the cars will be made of carbon fiber like the new Dreamliner by Boeing? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_787_Dreamliner I don't know about you but I wonder how a car made of this stuff would do in a crash. Would it splinter or would it crumple? How strange that we would have plastic cars, not just partially, but completely. Will really stink if your car gets scratched!

[momtojande]

Originally Posted by rosefall My mom loves to argue that the cars of the 60s and 70s were safer than the cars of today, but that's just not true. She's mostly basing that idea on the fact that a car from the 70s is more likely to survive the crash than today's car, not necessarily that the person inside would. In an old tank of a car, the frame is rigid and survives, but the force of the wreck was transferred to the passengers (who also didn't have safety belts). In a modern car, the forces of the wreck are more distributed through the car by crumple zones and other technologies, so the force experienced by the passengers is less.

Show your mom this video! (Crash test of a 2009 Malibu versus a 1959 Bel Air.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwupWFy_NP4

[3 ladybugs]

Originally Posted by momtojande Show your mom this video! (Crash test of a 2009 Malibu versus a 1959 Bel Air.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwupWFy_NP4

Wow! Thanks for sharing that! I am speechless over that!