Tough old bird.

[Professor Farnsworth]

let's not get too hot under the collar, keep on topic

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by graham7773

poppa smurf, I have to believe that comment is tongue in cheek. I know and I suspect that you also know that, per capita, more people are killed or injured in 4wd's of any type than any other type of passenger vehicle. RTA stats, Insurance companies will tell you the same thing

not tongue in cheek at all......merely stating what I've been told and what some would believe on why they buy four wheel drives and people movers

take a look around any school at pick up or drop off time and see all the puddle jumpers

I often ask why did you buy a four wheel drive only to be told that they are far safer for the wife and kids, there are a lot of people out there that honestly believe this

not my opinion, merely saying what others believe

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by graham7773

The way Ford and Holden sales are dropping, I would say the ratio is still fairly high but more new than old. I would still prefer to be in a Crown than a new Ford or Commodore in a smash. There are some surprising statistics about injuries caused by airbags including people, esp kids, being killed by the things

id much rather something cool like a HK steering wheel and column punching a hole in my chest......

[2011G6E]

The comments about new cars crumpling are right. They just aren't built solidly or to last. Hell, 15 months and 43000km on our G6E and already the thin paint (admitted by the Ford dealer..."that's how they do them nowadays") is marked and chipped despite our best efforts, the interior is still very nice but we've been overly diligent with keeping it clean. If we'd have treated it "average" I have no doubt some of the flimsy plastics would be poorer than they are. Mechanically it's fine...but that non-painted rusty engine block still gets at me when I open the bonnet. Small dents have appeared...one by a light piece of chipboard falling against the side of the car from twenty centimeters away, one from an empty trolley in a shopping center just nudging it gently.

I love our G6E...but I know in my heart that it won't look anywhere near as good or last near as well as our last Ford, a 1978 Fairmont GXL XC-Update. You could almost hit it with a hammer and it's be fine.
Oddly enough, the XC, while bigger, made of thicker steel, full of a large plush interior, and heavy steel bumpers, still weighed several hundred kilo's less than our FG...(1475kg compared to 1700+kg)

...not entirely sure that carrying more mass into an impact is better for you...or that making a car with flimsy materials weigh that much is going to do a lot of good in accidents...but there ya go...

[Pis-ton broke]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

thats the trouble with newer cars.....hit a leaf at 10K's and its a write off

I hit a roo at 70 miles an hour in a VC Valiant.....took me all of five minutes to buff the mark off the bumper

meany years back , my old man accidently drove his xf sedan into to my vg valiant, the bumper fell off his car , my car was unmarked.

[xbxd351]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

I feel sorry for those who believe that they will be better off in a crash in something from the 70's vs something contemporary.

Perhaps this is an aspect of 'Survival of the Fittest'? Nowadays it is mentally fittest perhaps?

Lol cool story bro. Do you really feel sorry for us? See the real issue here is you automatically believe the propaganda fed to you that modern cars are safer. My opinion on this this is based on personal experience and observations. I am more than happy to be proven wrong. So far no one has come up with any solid proof either way.

[Pis-ton broke]

all we need now is an old falcon a new falcon , two crash test dumpies (there,s a few on this site ha,ha) and a tree.

should sort this aguement out.

any volinteers?

[Bluepower]

The driver is lucky that it was along the side of the engine, not front on.

One of my ex footy mates had a very simillar accident, except the tip of the crankshaft found the tree. Unfortunately his injuries were so great he couldn't be saved.

I echo all the good advice, be safe, and never treat a car like its a safety blanket that will protect you in case of a collision, sometimes it wont.

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by Pis-ton broke

meany years back , my old man accidently drove his xf sedan into to my vg valiant, the bumper fell off his car , my car was unmarked.

that old girl was out in the sun 24/7.....washed, very basically, once a month, if it was lucky, never polished.....rarely on sealed roads

paint and body were as good as new.......she was a workhorse not a showpony

modern day paintwork and vehicle would have fallen apart if it was done now

a roo hit the side of our old toyota crown super saloon down along the coorong, i could never get that mark out......never dented the car

I dont know if modern cars are better in accidents or not, would all depend on the accident I guess

[Marquis]

Newer cars absorb therefore are safer. I would rather die in a classic than have a major head injury from being in a newer car. But that is just me

[stevz]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry when people try to claim that old cars are safer than new cars. It just highlights how far out of touch with reality they are. And to claim modern safety is 'propaganda' please, give me a break. Compare the shockingly high 70's and 80's road toll figures to todays figures and you will see that there has been a significant decrease in deaths despite a massive increase of vehicles on the road. How do explain that?

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by xbxd351

Lol cool story bro. Do you really feel sorry for us? See the real issue here is you automatically believe the propaganda fed to you that modern cars are safer. My opinion on this this is based on personal experience and observations. I am more than happy to be proven wrong. So far no one has come up with any solid proof either way.

You mean, apart from the youtube video posted on the first page? Thousands of other videos available on the subject on request. The countless reams of independent studies done on vehicle safety? Unless your experience and observations is that of a crash investigator over the last 30 years and not someone who's just been involved in a few minor bingles, I'll probably opt for the independent studies. Modern cars protect the occupants of the car much better than older cars - it has nothing to do with propaganda, it has everything to do with physics.

The fact that there is less panel damage in an accident in older cars only weakens your case. Newer vehicles absorb an impact and do their best to move the energy away from the occupants. Old cars did not take any of these things into consideration when being built. I'm sure your classic wouldn't look anywhere near as bad as the car in the first photo but I'd bet with certainty the occupants of the car in the crash would have been much better off.

[Dave3911]

Originally Posted by graham7773

Mr Hardware, there were more than 1200 people killed in vehicle smashes in Australia last year. I wonder how many of them were in so called "safe" late model cars. They are still just as dead, airbags, abs, traction control etc, etc not withstanding.Did they die because of being mentally unfit?

Nobody ever said a late model car made anyone invincible. The relevant stat you cant quote is the amount of deaths that would've occurred had they been in a different (older) vehicle.

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@....C?OpenDocument
Blind freddy can look at those graphs and see that deaths reduced dramatically from 1970 onwards, which was when compulsory seatbelts were introduced. It's also clear that Road Deaths per 100,000 Australians halved between 1984 and 2000. Obviously other factors change this as well (such as enforcement of drink driving legislation) - but the safety of the vehicles on the road is a HUGE factor and one acknowledged by the ABS.

I spent 8 years as a volunteer helping cut people out of cars after crashes.... I know which car I'd rather be in & is why me, my wife and my three kids get around in a G6E with as many airbags as money could buy.

[mik]

the gauge of the panel metal on different car models varies over the years, regardless of that, the passenger compartment in most ways is much better in modern falcons, even the dash on a modern falcon is attached to solid steel bracket work with a bit large bit of steel pipe bolted securely to the robust part of the frame that the doors are attached to, i like the old cars too, but i`d rather be in any modernish falcon(Au forward, not sure of construction on earlier models prior to that) in a heavy impact than earlier models.
someone mentioned VC valiant, did`nt they have the thinnest gauge body metal hence they where very light?

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by Bluepower

The driver is lucky that it was along the side of the engine, not front on.

One of my ex footy mates had a very simillar accident, except the tip of the crankshaft found the tree. Unfortunately his injuries were so great he couldn't be saved.

I echo all the good advice, be safe, and never treat a car like its a safety blanket that will protect you in case of a collision, sometimes it wont.

Interesting point...look at that accident again and imagine where the engine block would have ended up if he'd hit dead center...

On the "old cars pass on their energy to the modern car", I do recall being called "irresponsible and uncaring" when I had a very near miss with a woman in a Nissan Micra in a car park..."imagine what would have happened to me if that huge thing had hit my car! They ought to ban them from the roads!".

[chamb0]

Originally Posted by xbxd351

See the real issue here is you automatically believe the propaganda fed to you that modern cars are safer. My opinion on this this is based on personal experience and observations.

What is it about the human psyche and the propensity to find a conspiracy in everything? It's kind of funny in a way... for every possible situation in life you could think of, you can bet somebody has come up with a conspiracy theory about it. There's some really odd ones out there.

[Marquis]

Low impact crashes fare better damage wise in an old car but in no way whatsoever are old cars safer. I think people misinterpret the amount of damage with safety. The bigger the cost of fixing a car means the less $ to fix your body

[Nikked]

I remember a few years ago, i seen somewhere an experiment done with eggs...

One egg was placed in a model of a typical car with no crumple zones...

One egg was placed in a model of a typical car with crumple zones...

The egg in the car with no crumple zones burst open...the other didn't.


The reason?

The design of a crumple zone absorbed the impact before it reached the egg, the other one let the energy contiune, till it found the egg, cracking it open.


In real cars, we are the egg.

[Nikked]

Oh...yep, old cars are safer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPF4f...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l4YBf2tjag

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Professor Farnsworth

i've always wondered how an airbag affects your face if you have sunglasses on.. must leave a decent mark

I had full airbag deployment when I stacked my Focus, it threw my glasses off my face and twisted them.

Then some fat bastard at work stepped on them and finished them off .







Oopsie, thats my first Focus. Might not look like much but the point of impact, passenger side is actually back to the end of the passenger door where quarter panel meets door and the passenger door is buckled closed. Photos don't do it justice.

Car had less than 1000km on the clock, had to do the walk of shame to the dealership .

I was probably more ****ed off about losing my Susan Boyle CD in the CD player.

I could also use that drivers side headlight assembly because one of the clips snapped on mine today replacing a headlight.

[Professor Farnsworth]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

I was probably more ****ed off about losing my Susan Boyle CD in the CD player.

not sure if serious..

either way yeh that's a real bang, i remember seeing the pics you put up of that when it happened

things have certainly come a long way

[graham7773]

Opinions flying thick and fast...Just googled road fatalities from 1950 t0 2008......1950, 1600 road fatalities. Considering that most outback and not so outback were gravel or dirt roads, not surprising eh? 2008 1480 road fatalities on much better roads and better traffic controls. There was a decent rise mid 60's to mid 70's but just 120 difference between 1950 and 2008? These are government figures.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by graham7773

Opinions flying thick and fast...Just googled road fatalities from 1950 t0 2008......1950, 1600 road fatalities. Considering that most outback and not so outback were gravel or dirt roads, not surprising eh? 2008 1480 road fatalities on much better roads and better traffic controls. There was a decent rise mid 60's to mid 70's but just 120 difference between 1950 and 2008? These are government figures.

You forgot that there is more cars on the road and people driving, and that on dirt and gravel roads you are driving slower.

[Dave3911]

Originally Posted by graham7773

Opinions flying thick and fast...Just googled road fatalities from 1950 t0 2008......1950, 1600 road fatalities. Considering that most outback and not so outback were gravel or dirt roads, not surprising eh? 2008 1480 road fatalities on much better roads and better traffic controls. There was a decent rise mid 60's to mid 70's but just 120 difference between 1950 and 2008? These are government figures.

The Australian population in 1950 was about 8.2 million. Taking your stat of 1600. That equates to 1 Death in every 5125 people.

2011 Saw 1292 people die on our roads. Population at the end of last year was approx 22 million. 1 Death in every 17027.

3 Times less likely to be involved in a fatal accident...... yup, things haven't changed at all....

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Pis-ton broke

meany years back , my old man accidently drove his xf sedan into to my vg valiant, the bumper fell off his car , my car was unmarked.

Being an XF it was probably ready to fall off due to the rust anyway

[Falcman0o7]

Good Girl!!!!

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by xbxd351

A couple of years back a lady in a late model Mercedes did a u turn without looking and my mates XB absolutely demolished it. Only damage to the XB was the left front guard! We barely felt the impact and were shocked at the trail of destruction it left. The driver of the Mercedes didn't do so well spending some time in hospital.

Having said that I don't know why some people get out of bed in the morning if they can't enjoy anything because they all they ever worry about is safety and want to live in a world full of air bags! They might live to 100 but what a boring life it would have been. I'm proud to say I have never owned a car built after 1979 and I will never buy a car with air bags, abs or stability control. Sorry but I really hate today's obsession with safety.

If instead of the XB it was a very late model car with an energy absorbing structure (like an FG) that hit the Merc, the Merc driver would likely to have been better off.

If the XB hit another XB (instead of being the Merc) doing the u turn , the story probably would have been quite different (worse for both drivers).

[OzJavelin]

Typical of the full sized Dodge, Plymouth, Chev and Pontiacs (sorry guys .. No full sized Fords) Ive owned and driven without a second thought about safety .. 18+ feet of American steel:



Is it actually safe though? I doubt it. Even rudimentary things like seat mounts and seat belts were a bit of an after thought. I'd take my chances in the modern Falcon ove the old Barge ..

[wulos]

In a perfect world, it wouldn't matter what we drove, or how skilled, or how dangerous the roads, as accidents (or crashes) simply wouldn't happen.
I'm not for one second saying that old cars are death traps, or new cars save every life.
Simple point of this thread is to show you the results of how the car and occupant fared(driver has since been determined to have a couple of cracked ribs, & a broken hand).
Unfortunately I have absolutely no comparable damage for a pre 80's musclecar involved in the exact same type of accident. For what it's worth, I'm quite happy for that to be the case as arguing about which is better / worse, really isn't the aim here.
With how hard a hit this car took, I'm quite pleasantly suprised by how relatively intact the "glasshouse" stayed. The car may be a write off, but it did it's job in protecting the occupant.
Be safe out there peoples. This stuff can, and DOES happen - regardless of how good a driver you are, or how safe the car.

[Assassinbm]

Originally Posted by Scotty85

Unless theyre stapled to your head or something, they just fly off. This comes from experience.

Experience you say?, how many staples did you have to use, & did that hurt more than the air bag in the face