Why is it safer to travel in larger vehicles?
The simple answer is that it is safer to travel in larger vehicles because larger vehicles tend not to be involved in higher-severity crashes. As previously noted, crash severity is typically measured as the change in speed that the vehicle experiences during an impact event. This change in speed is often referred to as the crash “delta V” and is a measure of the kinetic energy that generates the forces on the occupant that can result in injury. In fact, the energy that an occupant must deal with is proportional to delta V to the second power, or to delta V squared, so that the energy in a 30-mph delta-V crash is more than twice that of a 20-mph delta V crash (i.e., 900 is more than twice 400). The delta V that a vehicle experiences in a crash is not only a function of how fast it is moving but it’s also a function of the mass of the vehicle or object that it strikes. If two vehicles of equal mass impact head on, then both will experience essentially the same delta V, which will be clo
