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Comment by ZenThereWere0 | Hacker News Reader

Invert this point ("SUV or a pickup colliding with a smaller car was 28 percent and 159 percent, respectively, more likely to kill that car’s driver.") to get that one is less likely to die in a big vehicle.

It is in your interest to buy and drive the biggest car you can afford, due to the presence of other large cars on the road.

See [1] 12 black swans to avoid, YouTube video from ER physician Dr. McGuff. First thirty seconds. Force equals mass x acceleration.

[1] https://youtu.be/xoPCIUwc4zY?si=wUvR7bhkBthiTsU_

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> Invert this point ("SUV or a pickup colliding with a smaller car was 28 percent and 159 percent, respectively, more likely to kill that car’s driver.") to get that one is less likely to die in a big vehicle.

That's not how inversions work. If you're in a small car and get into a collision with a large truck, you're likely to die. But if you're in a truck and get into a collision with another large truck, you're still likely to die, because you still got hit by a truck. Meanwhile truck collisions are more likely given the same drivers because they have more surface area which provides less margin to avoid an impact.

Perfect illustration of the tragedy of the commons. Until there is top down intervention, people choose to be either part of the problem, or choose to be part of the solution.

It sounds like it's also in your interest to legislate safety standards that ensure other peoples' vehicles are less likely to kill you when they crash into your own.

This is the reason my wife insisted that we get an SUV: Concern that if she were to be in a crash with another SUV/truck, they'd obliterate her in a small car.

Yep it’s very much a prisoner’s dilemma. If I choose a smaller car then my family is in greater danger.

Really interesting video that one.

Yeah, we had a very compact car. Drove my firstborn home from the hospital in it, surrounded by monster vehicles. Then traded it for a (smallish) SUV.

I may wish it weren’t that way, but I’m playing the game.

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