RV Crash Safety & Illusions of Safety

pnichols wrote:
I don't agree with some of the above comments.

Of course a Class C has the full vehicle manufacturer's steel cab area around them with airbags ... so no safety compromise for the driver and passenger ... maybe even more safe for the driver and passenger because a Ford E350/E450 and Chevy 3500/4500 cutaway van's cab area is more "beefy" than most passenger sedans and SUVs. A pickup's cab area would have about the same safety as those cutaway vans. However, all this DOES NOT apply to the cab area of a Class A motorhome.

As far as sitting in a Class C's dinettte area is concerned - like I said above - the seat belts there should be, or legally better be (in most states?), anchored as solid as in any passenger sedan, SUV, or pickup. One shouldn't buy a Class C that doesn't have properly anchored seat belts everywhere in it. The ONE AREA where a Class C might be less safe than a standard passsenger vehicle is perhaps in side collisions with (very) tall vehicles (since a Class C's dinette seats are higher up than the seats in sedans, SUVs, and most pickups) because a Class C will not have side airbags in it's walls.

As far as towing something with a sedan, SUV, or pickup. No way would I consider this as more safe than riding in an integrated "single piece" structure RV such as a motorhome. That's the main reason we would never have a TT or 5'er RV ... I can just imagine what a dangerous mess would result when something you're towing has a blowout on a curve or in high side winds or on a highway with steeply dropping off shoulders. Some of those huge TTs and 5'ers I see on the highway would really jerk around and/or flip their tow vehicles under various conditions.

WHAT IS dangerous in a Class C is something that I hope is illegal everywhere - letting kids ride up above in a cabover bed.

As I said before, the front 2 seats and entire front seating area in a Class A, Class B, Class C or any other "thing" on the road MUST AND DO meet all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. This means these areas and/or all equipment in them have been tested to meet standards. This includes rollover, seat and belt anchorages, belts, and everything else down to the flammability of the interior. Aft of this area there are no standards, no laws-federal, state, or local, or anything else that applies to crash safety. ALL BETS ARE OFF. AGAIN, ALL BETS ARE OFF. Anything a manufacturer provides is strictly based on his good will and what he's willing to give you. The law says he doesn't have to do anything. Some builders at least try and succeed somewhat, others fail and others don't even try.