Hypothetical question ST vs Explorer -safety

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Anupam Routh

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Greetings! Which will be safer vehicle in crashes and rollovers? Ford Explorer 2007 with rollover sensing device or Sportstrac 2007. Both has side air bags and canopies.



I think ST will be safer because it is bigger - 205 inch vs 189 inch and has much longer wheel base. ST wheelbase is even longer than Ford Expedition. In Front to front crashes both should be equal. But when some one hits one in the back ST should fare better because of that extra length. In rollover situations, ST should fare better because of longer wheel base. Am I too biased towards ST as I have one since 2003. What is your opinion? With thanks in advance.
 
How many accidents have you been into with your 2003?



What vehicle workes better for your application? If you load some large stuff in the back of an Explorer and run into something, the flying debris could hit and kill you. With the stuff in the bed, it won't.



Safety can be swayed one way to the other. It is all on how someone is willing to sway the facts.



For me, I could care less about vehicle safety. I wear my seatbelt and I avoid accidents whenever I can. I don't need ABS, SRS, Stability assist, TPMS, or any of those other safety features that do nothing but stupify, in my opinion, the drivers on the road making them feel invincible.



The safest vehicle in the world won't save you from the idiot eating breakfast, shaving, talking on the cellphone, and combing his hair, while trying to read the newspaper on the way to work in the morning.





Tom
 
I don't think a longer wheelbase would make a difference so much as a wider wheelbase. Myself, I would not buy a new vehicle without some kind of stability control. I look at it like seat belts and air bags. Hopefully I'll never need it but for that one time I do I'll be glad it's there.
 
Wasn't there an issue with Explorer roof caving in during rollovers, but it didn't happen to Sport Trac or Ranger (because the roof was smaller/shorter)? I seem to remember something about this a year or two ago.
 
You'll think differently, Caymen, about passive and active vehicle safety systems when its not just you in your car, but it's your little kids, or you wife driving your little kids. Extra protection never hurt.



You say they "dumb down drivers"...yeah, maybe that's so. But so many drivers are already dumb, and you aren't going to make them better, so these things help them. You think you don't need them, and that I understand. But they still might save your life someday...because they are in your car, or the other guys car.



I remember when ABS came out and old timers were poo-pooing it. They all said: "I know when I have to pump my brakes", or "I know when the road conditions are bad and I need to slow down!"....that's rationalization and arrogance. The truth is, you can't always predict when you will hit a slick spot of road, and no-one can say with certainty exactly how they will react (and I mean that split-second FIRST reaction) when their vehicle goes out of control. Everyone's first, innate reaction is to stomp on the brake...and it could be the reaction that creates an unsafe condition (like an out of control skid) that even the most skilled driver cannot compensate for.



You are probably saying "not me"...but then that would make you the exception, the RARE exception. Cars aren't made for the exceptional, they are made for the common folk.



TJR
 
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Caymen, First you misread what "arouth" said:
Am I too biased towards ST as I have one since 2003.
Click to expand...
Second you forget that most people out there are not active drivers, which is why ABS, Stability Control, etc. where developed in the first place. If we had everyone was an active driver our insurance rates would go down. :)



TJR, For the most part I have to agree with you. ;)
 
I'll take all the safety options I can get. I'm a very cautious active driver, but how I drive is only half the picture--it's how other people drive that is my main concern. My last 2 vehicles were totalled by people running into me because they were not paying attention. One woman went through a red and nailed my Nissan pickup and my Honda Accord was totalled by a guy who was driving diagonally across a Kmart parking lot at about 40 mph (straight line from his space to the exit apparently), while I was minding my own going slowly down a lane looking for a space. In both incidents, the other drivers were on their cell phones!



I would really like to see police start coming down HARD on drivers who drive with one hand on the wheel and the other on their phone. Operating a cell phone while driving should, IMHO, carry the exact same penalties as DUI.



http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/08/16/cell.phone.driving/index.html
 
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Rodger,



I got that part, that is why I made the comment about flying debris in the back of an Explorer. Then to top it off, any safe vehicle can be discredited, it just depends on who likes what. Hatchbacks are great because they have room to load larger things in the back.



They are also safer because kids can't be locked in a trunk since it doesn't have one.



Then again, a can of soup in that same compartment can become airborn and hit you in the back of the head and kill you.



One safer idea isn't so safe afterall.



One could argue that the Sport Trac weighs more than an Explorer, therefore in an accident, the Explorer would be safer than the Trac since there is less mass. Then again, the more metar around you, the safer you are. Again, something safer can be cancelled out by something else.





Tom
 
I want all the safety devices I can get.... had to pay extra on wifes new Focus to get ABS, but got it. I have a teenage daughter and a wife I don't want to lose, and I am concerned about the other driver hitting them more than the other way around.



Wife had a Subaru wagon years ago, got rearended by a Godfathers Pizza driver while she was at a dead stop and he was moving about 45-50 in an F250. OUCH. Car was trashed, and ever since then, I have been very safety concious for them.
 
Who needs all that extra safety stuff... ABS?? HA! how dumb..



Just today I was about involved in a crash, THANKS to the ABS, I didn't hit the damn truck... oh, and the guy had pulled out in front of me as I was traveling down the road (yielding as well to other cars)...



ABS does matter...



How do I know I would have crashed? I just do.:)
 

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