I'm at work right now, so I can't find the data at the moment, but I'll try to look it up when I get home, however, what I'm thinking of was a graph made up over a long term study of accidents that correlated the type of car with both injuries to the people in the car, and injuries to people in the other car.

What did it find? Small modern cars like Corollas, Jettas, etc, were by far safer for both the people in the car, and the people outside of the car. The worst on both accounts? Pickup trucks! SUVs, were, predictably, decent to the inhabitants of the car, but terrible to people in other cars, and little sports cars were the worst to the people in the car, but best to people in other cars.

The thing I liked about the study is that it was based on actual accidents, not simulated crashes, and it correlated lots of different aspects of an accident, a fairly in depth study.

The point is, kinetic energy is NOT what you want more of in a crash. It doesn't matter which side of the equation its on, you don't want more of it, you want less of it.

If you've got a car with ABS and airbags, put your kids in THAT during terrible weather! Heavy = hard to stabilize in a slide, Stiff = kinetic energy transfered to your neck instead of to the crumple zones. Both bad things. Now, W123s are pretty safe cars, and they were great for their era, but don't think that it is safer than a modern small car. The idea of 'econoboxes' being dangerous is no longer the case, now that modern safety technology is available even in mid to low priced sedans.

I know that in bad weather my girlfriend an I drive her AWD subaru. It is orders of magnitude more confident on bad roads, and if the worst were to happen, I'd be glad the ABS and airbags were there.

But as usual, avoidence is better than being in any accident at all, which is why I drive safely, never drive drunk (and even avoid times when lots of drunks are out), and use the right equipment for the job.

Anyway, be safe, its a jungle out there, and I hope the best for you all.

Peace,
Sam

__________________
"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)