[neilc]

Interesting. The evidence doesn't seem to support his claim that small and agile is better than big and bulky:

  Important characteristics of vehicles that influence their
  driver death rates are type, body style, size, and weight.
  Within virtually every group of vehicles, the smaller and
  lighter models have the higher rates...

  Among cars, for example, the smallest twodoor models had
  the highest death rate at 190 per million vehicle years.
  This rate is more than twice as high as the average for
  all vehicles included in the study...

  The vehicle group with the lowest driver death rate was
  large luxury cars with 37 deaths per million vehicle years.
  The next lowest rate was in large minivans and station
  wagons with 42 deaths per million.

[menloparkbum]

Unfortunately I think the soccer moms are not so far off the mark. Small contemporary 2 door economy vehicles get smushed and crumpled immediately upon impact with a larger, sturdier vehicle. I used to drive a grotesque, gigantic luxury vehicle from the 1980s and was rear ended twice. Both times the other cars (GEO metro, some sort of Hyundai) were totaled (from a fender bender!) and I merely ended up with additional dents on my bumper.

[wensing]

The argument is that you are less likely to crash when piloting a smaller vehicle, not that a smaller vehicle fares better in a crash of similar nature.

[neilc]

Sure, but the evidence I cited above does not seem to support that.