sure it makes sense.
there was a time when the switch from larger to smaller cars did cause more deaths.
basically in the mid 1970s up to the early 1980s there was a trend to smaller cars due to fuel and government rule changes.
the result was an increase in deaths and a reputation were people knew early cars were perceived to be safer.
basically in the 40-50s you had cars with much thicker sheet metal and no crumple zones, most people did not die from the crash itself but from internal injuries to organs. so the car would survive pretty well even at high speed impacts but the person was dead from massive internal injuries.
the larger the car was the more room the person had to sort of bounce around and absorb impacts. so lower speed accidents had a higher rate of survival but high speed was fatal to the drivers not the cars.
getting into the 60s, you had some safety improvements, collapsible columns, lap belts, and even some cars started to have crumple zones.
by the 70s you started to get into 5mph impact bumpers and more energy absorption.
now here is were things got dangerous.
mid 70s fuel crisis.
you had a sudden shift to much smaller cars to save on fuel with old metal technology, even with early airbag designs your death rate went way up.
this is where you heard about how early cars were safer and better.
by the mid 1980s, you had a massive leap in metal technology before everything was mild steel. after you had different types of heat treated metals that could give and take stress in different ways. this allowed the engineers to direct impact energy just where it needed to be away from the driver.
at the same time, cars actually got bigger again, computer engine controls, fuel injection brought the power back with the MPG needed to accommodate forced safety features as well, by the 1990s safety was back up well passed 1960-70 levels
but the stigma of the 1980s still stuck.
now of course any modern car is going to be incredibly safe compared to a classic car.
now everything is under assault but not because of some safety study, they will find any reason they can to take away your ability to govern your own life.
up next they want to blackbox everything in the name of whatever cause they wish.
eventually they will outlaw internal combustion if they can so they won't take away your car just make it impossible to fuel.
they already have all kinds of incentives to make you get rid of your old car for a new one a safety study isn't going to be a nail in the coffin.
just look at the next generation it has very little interest in classic cars. so the ownership will shrink on its own.
the older generation remembers when dad owned his 1957 chevy so the next generation bought them for nostalgia. the generation after for the most part just remembers the smelly old junker that dad bought when he turned 40, they wish they just got the new iphone instead of going for a drive with dad in grampas car.
buddy of mine has a 67 camaro. he restored it in 1980s just after college, his son has ZERO interest in the car so there is nothing to pass on. eventually it will be sold into an ever decreasing classic car market where the 1990 toyota Supra Twin Turbo will eclipse it in value because it is what the current generation wants to own for nostalgia.
Same with me, i have no interest in pre 1968 vehicles, the classic market lurches forward into the 80s and 90s cars.
