I have a general safety question that I feel fits here better than the Opinions forum. Correct me if I have erred. I have one more car than I really need so I plan to semi-park one of them. Each car has its plus and minus aspects, are different ages and have different safety features. All are well maintained. Which to park? That got me wondering about the incremental advantages of the various safety features. Let's agree to not consider which car is more fun to drive, is more economical, etc. I list below the various safety features that I deem important, from most important to least important. I would like your opinion on this since you are a savvy group on safe cars. I chose the RWD forum because the age and design of the car is an important aspect. This might bias the responses, I admit. Nevertheless, here we go:
- driver attitude and ability, attuned to weather and traffic conditions
- repair state of the car, especially tires, brakes, steering, seasonally correct
- reliability and robustness of key functions (brakes, steering, lights, drive train and anything that could disable the car)
- car dynamics
[I put the above 3 first since staying out of harms way has got to be a priority]
- 3-point seat belts
- basic passive safety features (crush zones, padded interiors, ...)
- mass of car (in front of driver preferred)
- air bags (second gen or better preferred)
- ABS
- SIPS
- more modern features like side curtains
- advanced ABS (stability control, etc)
- AWD

If money were no object I suppose I should get the car with the most features but even then, a more complicated car is more likely to leave my wife stranded on the shoulder of a busy highway or on a dark back road late at night in the dead of winter than a simpler car, all other things being equal (ask my friend about her fancy MB). If the simpler car is already pretty safe, she might actually be less safe in the car with more features. That is not a bad example because attention to real-life risks means not putting yourself in a vulnerable position to begin with and driving according to the conditions and equipment you have. I think I would drive much more carefully in a car that had a spike sticking out of the steering wheel than one that didn't. :-)

But, at any rate, money IS an object. If I over-buy, I am less likely to be able to maintain the car. Or perhaps, with the money saved I could purchase a better computer hookup so that I could do more work at home and not have to travel at peak traffic times (just an example but you get my drift). It seems to me that the sweet spot is somewhere around a medium sized car (reasonable mass, sizable crush zone and some hope of maneuverability) with the basic passive safety features and better than average reliability on key functions that are needed to keep a car safely mobile.

The new safety features are nice and are marvelous examples of neat engineering, but human nature being what it is, I think that I, like most people, drive to a certain comfort level. Somehow, when I am boxed in by semi-trailer trucks on the highway, driving a car with ESP does not give me comfort. Knowing I have good brakes, steering and tires and that the ignition is not going to act up at that moment IS a big comfort to me.

Bottom line question: Is there a significant safety advantage to driving a modern more complex FWD family car with dual air bags and ABS vs. an older 740 with ABS but no airbags. Should we all junk the older cars to get SIBS?

Comments?

Bill