Friday, November 21, 2008
+ Small Cars are Safer :)
Why Small Cars are Getting Safer
(AOL Autos) -- "You don't have to look too far into the past to find a time when automakers didn't see car safety as a "selling point." But over the last 30 years, car safety has become a prime factor in the minds of car buyers.
The NHTSA ranks the Volkswagen Jetta as one of the top safest small cars.
So, automakers responded -- and as a result, cars and trucks are much safer today than they were 30, 20, even 10 years ago.
One car segment that has especially benefited from this overall improvement in safety is the sub-compact category. And it's a good thing, too, because as gas prices have soared in the last two years, more buyers are turning away from big trucks, monster SUVs and gas-thirsty muscle cars in favor of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Indeed, the small-car category is the fastest-growing segment in the U.S. auto industry, with sales increasing by 12 percent this year, and everyone expects that growth to continue as long as gas prices keep rising -- or even if they just hold steady and don't drop. That's why many automakers have even more sub-compact models in their product pipelines.
So, as Americans' buying preferences have shifted to smaller vehicles, the old debate about the safety of small cars has ignited anew. Some drivers who've been in an SUV for the last six years have been apprehensive about not being surrounded by a massive steel structure and a few dozen feet of sheet metal.
But those who have been forced to "go small" for economic reasons can take comfort in the fact that small cars are much safer today than they were just a decade ago."
Ransom, K. (2008, November 21). Why small cars are getting safer. Retrieved November 21, 2008, from CNN.com/living Web site: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/11/21/aa.small.cars.
getting.safer/index.html
(AOL Autos) -- "You don't have to look too far into the past to find a time when automakers didn't see car safety as a "selling point." But over the last 30 years, car safety has become a prime factor in the minds of car buyers.
The NHTSA ranks the Volkswagen Jetta as one of the top safest small cars.
So, automakers responded -- and as a result, cars and trucks are much safer today than they were 30, 20, even 10 years ago.
One car segment that has especially benefited from this overall improvement in safety is the sub-compact category. And it's a good thing, too, because as gas prices have soared in the last two years, more buyers are turning away from big trucks, monster SUVs and gas-thirsty muscle cars in favor of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Indeed, the small-car category is the fastest-growing segment in the U.S. auto industry, with sales increasing by 12 percent this year, and everyone expects that growth to continue as long as gas prices keep rising -- or even if they just hold steady and don't drop. That's why many automakers have even more sub-compact models in their product pipelines.
So, as Americans' buying preferences have shifted to smaller vehicles, the old debate about the safety of small cars has ignited anew. Some drivers who've been in an SUV for the last six years have been apprehensive about not being surrounded by a massive steel structure and a few dozen feet of sheet metal.
But those who have been forced to "go small" for economic reasons can take comfort in the fact that small cars are much safer today than they were just a decade ago."
getting.safer/index.html
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