Insurance institute sez: heavier is safer

Fast Mopar wrote:

brulaz wrote:
And the Insurance companies use this info to set their rates.

My more expensive 2011 F150 costs less to insure than my 2011 Cruze, all because of potential personal injury issues.

Yes, but weight is not the issue in this example. My cheap Cobalt costs more to insure than my 2013 Grand Caravan, and the insurance company said it is because most Cobalt drivers are very young and take a lot of chances on the road.

Seems odd. If there are no young drivers in your household, why should you be penalized?

In our case, it's just me and wife who drive them, and it was the Insurance agent who told me that the truck was considered safer than the Cruze. But sometimes I do wonder if he really knows what's what.

brulaz wrote:
And the Insurance companies use this info to set their rates.

My more expensive 2011 F150 costs less to insure than my 2011 Cruze, all because of potential personal injury issues.

Yes, but weight is not the issue in this example. My cheap Cobalt costs more to insure than my 2013 Grand Caravan, and the insurance company said it is because most Cobalt drivers are very young and take a lot of chances on the road.

Having done a lot of crash research (not insurance related), trucks have higher crash rates but lower injury severity.

They tend to be less likely to be involved in multi-vehicle accidents. The prevailing assumption is this is due to the higher driver eye height (ie: In my F250, I can see past the SUV in front of me and see the car ahead that is braking before the SUV brake lights come on. In a low slung sports car, I have a lovely view of the SUV's rear axle and have no knowledge of what is happening ahead of the SUV.)

When they are involved in multi-vehicle crashes, well....they win.

On the other hand, they tend to be more likely to be involved in single vehicle roll over crashes due to thier high center of gravity.

I haven't looked into this recently but at one time, this was associated with young testosterone filled men being the predominant 1/2 ton truck driver. 3/4 & 1 ton trucks were usually driven by more seasoned guys and I would expect lower crash rates. I notice a couple of 1/2 tons on the list and wonder if young guys can't afford the gas bill that comes with the V8 1/2 ton trucks so they are shifting towards the more seasoned guys driving them. The 1/2 ton trucks definetly still win out against an econo-box.

I believe most insurance company's want to put semi-tractors into commercial policies, so that is likely why they aren't included on this list of passenger vehicles (yeah, 3/4 & 1 ton trucks are a gray area but the bulk are owned and operated by private citizens).

Besides the weight issue, the frame strength is designed to a whole different standard in trucks vs cheap passenger vehicles. And HD trucks are even stronger. Notice that a Porsche is on that safe list, money buys safety.

And the Insurance companies use this info to set their rates.

My more expensive 2011 F150 costs less to insure than my 2011 Cruze, all because of potential personal injury issues.

Safer for you and your passengers. For people in a lighter vehicle that collide with you, the opposite is true. But assuming this is a zero sum game, someone has to win and someone has to lose, it's obviously best to be inside the winning vehicle.

So my Excursion is safer because it's heavier?!

A Chevy 250/2500 turned in front of me. I went over his hood. The Chevy 250 was totaled my Class A on a Freightliner chassis drove away.

agesilaus wrote:
There was quite an argument going on about this on another thread, but as the title to this article shows: Physics rules:

link

F-350 is the safest vehicle on the road

The folks over at "Buses, Real Trucks, and Locomotives.com" have a different list...

ib516 wrote:
KE = 1/2 m*vsquared

Basic interpretation of this is:
Biggest boat has the right of way :)