There are a lot of advantages to small cars, such as getting better gas mileage and not taking up as much space on the street. But there are disadvantages, as well, such as the fact that these cars may be more dangerous. If you get in an accident, even if your car gets a good crash test rating, it is more hazardous to be in a small vehicle than a large one.
In other words, if a small car crashes into a large truck, odds are that the person in the car is going to be seriously injured. But why exactly does it work this way?
Two key reasons
There are two major reasons for this, and both of them just have to do with physics. The first is that the brunt of that impact is going to be felt by the smaller vehicle and the people inside, just based on the difference in mass. The larger vehicle has much more mass, so more energy moves from it and into the other vehicle. This difference in mass and energy is what causes more traumatic injuries for those within the small car.
The second problem is simply that the people in the vehicle are closer to the impact point. A large pickup truck, for example, means that people are very high and they have a few feet of frame, metal, and engine to absorb a lot of that energy. Someone in a small car is much lower and much closer to their own front bumper, which means it’s more likely that they’ll get injured.
Of course, you can get injured no matter what type of vehicle you drive. If you get hit by someone else and you’re looking at extensive medical bills and other costs, you may be able to seek compensation