Reply to USA Today Car Safety Article

[DrG]

Sometime early last week, USAToday ran a story relating car safety to the size of the car. The story pointed out that in an accident, small cars as a group, are not as safe as larger cars. In the Thursday edition, one reader wrote in to say that environmental concerns are more important than any other factor since large cars cause climate change, hurricanes, floods and famines. One reader wrote in to say his Volkswagen Jetta is safe because he walked away after being hit by a motorcycle, and one reader wrote in to say that since small cars are more agile therefore they can weave in and out of traffic and be a smaller target. (Where do they find these people and why don’t they go to work and be useful?) But, here’s the final reply to the story:

The Hummer Stays

My wife and I lease a Hummer H3. We recognize that this is not the best car for the environment, and we take quite a bit of flak from family and friends. Earlier this summer, we thought about terminating the lease early and getting a much smaller, more environmentally friendly car.
Two weeks ago, we were on vacation in Gettysburg, Pa, with our two young children. We were traveling on a state route with a 55 mph speed limit. The kids were in the back in their car seats. As I slowed to make a left hand turn, we were hit by another car. The driver of the other car did not brake, and the car did not stop until making full force contact with our Hummer.
Luckily, all parties survived. Our car took the hit like a tank and received minimal damage. The kids, sleeping in the back seat, did not even wake up. The other car had the entire front destroyed. Emergency workers were amazed at how strong and sturdy the Hummer was.
I know that our large car protected my family. We will be keeping it.
Denny Young
Cleveland