Side Collisions: Mercedes, Volvo or Saab??

[HuskyMan]

Concerning crash safety, I believe that all three brands perform comparably in either a front end or rear end collision. Side collisions are another issue though. There was a television special aired awhile back demonstrating side collision testing at the Volvo factory using a Volvo SUV. They tried their best to get the vehicle to flip over by employing hard cornering. No matter how hard they turned the steering wheel, the Volvo refused to flip over.

They then used a battering ram to hit the Volvo in the side with an explosive impact. As a result, the Volvo rolled several times; the crash test dummies experienced little to no "injuries". Amazing.

Concerning Saabs, a friend of mine experienced a side collision in his Saab. A woman in a rather large Cadillac ran a red light going approximately 50 - 60 MPH and hit his Saab in the right passenger door. She hit him so hard his Saab rolled two - three times (it happened so fast, he doesn't remember how many times his car rolled over).

He wasn't wearing a seat belt so was forced to reach out with his hands to brace himself against the car's roof. The impact area on the right front passenger door showed little damage; amazingly, the interior of the right passenger door showed virtually NO damage. Also, he experienced only minor scrapes and bruises.

To me, a side collision is one of the most violent and life threatening accidents that can occur. I'm always encouraging people to look left, look right and then look left again BEFORE entering ANY intersection, green light or not. But, if the unthinkable happens and you get hit in the side by a red light runner (let's face it, some of these morons are traveling twice the speed limit), which of these three cars do you think gives you the best protection and why?