I posted a link to an article in opinions recently about trucks & SUVs not being built with the same crash safety as cars, and I think this is just another example of that....

http://www.brickboard.com/OPINIONS/index.htm?id=1241838

My understanding is that it's essentially a loophole in the federal regulations for this stuff that the standards for car safety (and emissions BTW) don't apply to trucks. This loophole allows manufacturers to sell trucks without investing all that expensive research and development into their products that would otherwise be necessary for cars and minivans.

The irony is that the lack of proper safety design in trucks and SUVs is not only unsafe for everyone else on the road, -- it's also unsafe for the SUV drivers themselves, despite the "invincible feeling" those drivers may feel from being elevated so high in their tall, top-heavy vehicles.

It's sad that the situation is allowed to persist, but I guess there's alot of money to be made keeping things the way they are....

As others have said, modern cars are still much better in safety design than our 15+ year-old RWD volvos. I wish I liked modern cars.
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'92 245 5-speed, '92 944 GL auto