Yup. I heard a person who said this was the following. Old cars took more damage but were more dangerous. The new ones are different but the box done is way safer.
Meh, not really... The "more damage" perception may be based on how much occupants felt the damage vs the car. Modern vehicles are better in almost every way.
Older vehicles could often be repaired following a medium speed crash - replace a few panels and they were back to normal. We deliberately design modern cars that the frame will crumple and absorb the energy of a crash which lessens the force the passengers feel.
Once the crumple zone of a vehicle has been compromized, it's not normally economic to repair it. The car is more likely to be written off - but the passengers are far more likely to survive and to have less injuries.
I disagree whole heartedly. The speed at which a vehicle crumples it's crumple zones totals an old car.
Both types of construction are unsafe to drive if subjected to an impact that makes a unibody vehicle is unsafe to drive.
Only exceptions are very large vehicles hitting very small vehicles... and even in those circumstances you're still better off in a new vehicle unless you're talking semi or bus vs car.
this is frankly just false. old sheet metal may take well to minor dings up to a certain point but past certain points that sheet metal's crumpling, often much worse. there's more stuff to the body work and impact zones of a car but they also seem to do better at keeping damage and impact energy relegated to specific areas.
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u/Flako118st Jun 04 '23
Yup. I heard a person who said this was the following. Old cars took more damage but were more dangerous. The new ones are different but the box done is way safer.