RE: Audi snubbed again

[BARTHOML@snyalfva.cc.alfredtech.edu (Matt Bartholomew)]

>From:	SMTP%"healey@lerc.nasa.gov"      "jim healey" 19-APR-1995 09:30:59.19
>To:	quattro@coimbra.ans.net
>CC:	
>Subj:	Audi snubbed again
>
>Hi All
>Watch TV last night? 

Yes!  "Wings - over the Gulf" on Discover, *and* car crashes!  What an
action packed evening!

>Some Blah Blah Insurance Institute decided to run 38mph
>offset head-on crashes to see how many broken legs etc.
>they could get - they were only interested in the lower extremities.

Baaaaaad car wreck, broken leg....hmmmmm...sounds like an ok deal to me.
But then I ski alot and risk a broken leg with regularity.  I wonder
what that guy with the leg broken in six places was driving?  Curious
lack of detail there on the part of Dateline.

>Nope, no Audis, BMWs or Mercedes  -  I guess they didn't want to
>make the competition look too bad. 

Don't forget, Dateline did have a spokesman on from Mercedes, and they
did characterize Mercedes as one of the most respected automakers with
respect to safety engineering.  They also showed a chassis, presumably
from a Mercedes, that showed quite a bit of structural reinforcement.

I wonder if that Insurance Institute would do used cars.  Lotsa cheap
AwwwwDeees out thar! ;)

>For the curious, if you're driving the passat and you get into an
>offset crash - don't plan on walking again.

This surprised me somewhat...I'd like to see how a Golf or Jetta does.

I'm also curious about how foot placement at the time of the crash
affects the injury probability.  Do they assume that the left foot
is on the clutch or on the dead-pedal?  Do they assume that the 
right foot is on the gas or on the brake?  Maybe there's a difference.

Ah well, at least there weren't any exploding gas tanks or jury-rigged
transmissions.  

Matt
'88 5000tq - no air bag and damn proud of it!
no wife
no cat - though folks keep telling me to get one
no home page