May 30, 2004
What part of safety is the important part?
Tree and her mother are always talking about how much safer big cars are. So I pass along statistics like these which show that Little Cars are safer than Big Trucks and SUVs.
"Well, the important thing," they reply "is that the big cars feel safer."
So it's more important to feel safer than to actually be safer?!!??!? Can someone enlighten me as to how this logic works?
- wink [May 30, 2004 02:04 AM]w1re says:
Well, the end that is being served in their logic is their emotional state. So long as the emotional state remains relatively calm and unstirred, then the end justifies the means (even if the means is utterly illogical).
Look at it another way: If they are, in fact, going to die while inside an SUV, they want the process to be as happy as possible. If they are in a little car, they will feel less secure and therefore more apprehensive even if it means that they will live 30 or 40 years longer. It's the quality of life thing.
Karin says:
I don't know that I feel safer in one or the other. I was in a really bad accident in a very very tiny car and luckily it did its job and I wasn't hurt very badly. The car was a different story, but I like to think it gave its life for a good cause. So, size doesn't really matter to me on the feeling safe scale. However, I like being up higher in my SUV and being able to see what's coming toward me easier, so that might make me feel a little safer in a way. Really, though, I just like my Escape way better than I've liked any other car I've driven. To me, it's about aesthetics. :D