How safe is the average 510?

[thisismatt]

Fixed.

lol, just screwing with you, man. The splitting hairs pic was funny ;)

[sick620]

dude if you are doing what you love who cares how unsafe it is... if I could choose how im going out it would be to die in my 620...

"if im going to hell, im going in a datsun!!"

[MicroMachinery]

I think I would rather be in a smart car than a 510 in an accident.

 

Yeah, I'd definitely rather see a Smart car hauled off to the scrap yard than a 510. Way to take one for the team.

[datzenmike]

since most of em are hopped up im sayin death trap.

 

but any car is one, just have to drive it right.

 

Again I have to disagree. How careful or how 'right' you drive has nothing to do with surviving an accident. Being careful or 'driving right' may avoid or lessen an accident true, but an accident by definition is the unforeseen outcome of known causes. Some accidents, however cautious and careful and alert and vigilant you are are totally beyond your ability to avoid. Wrong place wrong time, shit happens. So lets not say that 'driving right' will make a 510 safer. You could be stopped in line at a stop light and still be rear ended, or someone runs a poor visibility intersection and T bones you. The only way to avoid these and many others is to have stayed home that day. Weather a car is safe in an accident has nothing to do with the driver.

[INDY510]

.

Mike is right .......... the only accident I've ever been in was totally un-avoidable

 

some 16 yr old girl was driving in the first rain of the year ... .. . and she came around a blind corner going 55mph sideways in a new VW bettle

 

 

my choice was drive off a cliff ....... . . or slam on my brakes and try to hit her rear bumper ....... .. both cars were totalled ..... :o no one was hurt though

[INDY510]

.

I bet if I hit her driver's door she'd be dead ....... :unsure:

[DanielC]

DatsunMike, I understand your point about the non-collapsible steering column.

However, the steering box is bolted inside and to the frame, and my guess if the impact is great enough to force the steering column into the cab any appreciable amount, the driver would have other issues to worry about.

[bananahamuck]

510s are pretty safe, unless one falls into the hands of INDY510, then it doesnt stand a chance :lol: j/k

 

Noobs I will bet that most 510s are safer than some of the old Ford trucks you have rode around in lately ..

 

Steering.............kinda

 

Brakes.................sometimes

 

personal restraint system................................

[Guest DatsuNoob]

Safety is just something that gets in the way of having fun. That old Ford is cooler than shit, who cares about safe. I'd rather die in a cool vehicle than a safe one. Safety is for soccer moms and minivans, or for guys shopping for their wife's next soccer mom minivan. Doesnt the average Datsun owner shrug off minor safety details new car folks worry about?

My original comment was just a joke meant to take a friendly whack at Indy though :lol:

[bananahamuck]

I i know you were giving indy510 a bad time ...just used multiquote to get YOUR attention

 

Like using the most unrelated emoticon available... hence......

[datzenmike]

DatsunMike, I understand your point about the non-collapsible steering column.

However, the steering box is bolted inside and to the frame, and my guess if the impact is great enough to force the steering column into the cab any appreciable amount, the driver would have other issues to worry about.

 

Yes. I see that too. But a collapsible one would be an advantage and less to worry about.

[inline4]

.

Mike is right .......... the only accident I've ever been in was totally un-avoidable

 

some 16 yr old girl was driving in the first rain of the year ... .. . and she came around a blind corner going 55mph sideways in a new VW bettle

 

 

my choice was drive off a cliff ....... . . or slam on my brakes and try to hit her rear bumper ....... .. both cars were totalled ..... :o no one was hurt though

was she cute?

[datzenmike]

"It's better to be dead and cool, than alive and uncool."

 

[ggzilla]

Safer than a 1200, I would imagine!

Huh? The 1200 was the first Nissan with computer-designed safety crumple zones. It even has a collapsible safety column as standard equipment. Wear your seat belts -- including shoulder belt tightened correctly. Then it is fairly safe. The crumple zones do work.

 

Yes, a 2011 Kia or a 1995 Daewoo is safer.

 

The Smartcar is exempt from some of the crash tests, i'd trust my 1200 more than a Smartcar for safety in a crash.

[INDY510]

.

If you've never been hit with an air-bag....... . . .. you don't realize how fucked you'd be in a 510 ,,,,,,,,, :mellow:

 

 

I was going 45mph..... she was going over 55mph..... .. :blink:

[ggzilla]

That's what many people are afraid of ... and dozens killed by ... getting hit with an airbag.

[Skib]

I hate airbags.

[datzenmike]

That's what many people are afraid of ... and dozens killed by ... getting hit with an airbag.

 

Practice driving and not picking your nose.

[ggzilla]

Be nice Mike. I'm not afraid of airbags, nor am I afraid to drive a Datsun. Like you I have a daily driver.

 

One thing for either kind of car, don't crowd the steering wheel, sit back a bit so the airbag won't hit you smack in the heart, nor will the steering wheel (hopefully).

 

Safe driving is more than which car you have (which I think is Mike's point?)

[datzenmike]

I was trying to be funny not un nice. :angry: :( :huh: :mellow: :D :lol:

 

Your hands should be at 10 and 2 as well. If you drive with one hand at 12 it can be blown back at your face at the speed of sound by the deploying air bag.

[Dirk Diggler]

Did you ever see the myth busters about thumbs being broken and ripped off in the 10 and 2 position by air bags?

[Laecaon]

Did you ever see the myth busters about thumbs being broken and ripped off in the 10 and 2 position by air bags?

 

My mom has a friend who broke both thumbs from the airbag.

 

My mom also has another friend that popped her eardrums from the airbag. The rapid compression of the airspace in the car popped them. That is why I drive my Jetta with the sunroof popped open everywhere I drive.

 

I have witnessed a T-bone of a Ford truck with a bull bar T-boning a 2002ish Jetta. The B-pillar on the Jetta aced the bullbar. Lady in the Jetta had a few bruises. I dont know how fast it was, but enough to put a good crease on the bull bar.

[datto510]

My mom has a friend who broke both thumbs from the airbag.

 

My mom also has another friend that popped her eardrums from the airbag. The rapid compression of the airspace in the car popped them. That is why I drive my Jetta with the sunroof popped open everywhere I drive.

 

 

True, airbags can cause damage. What might have happened to your mothers friend had the airbag not been there? Just think how many lives airbags have saved compared to the injuries and deaths caused by them. BTW, busted eardrums aren't that big of a deal, they hurt a bit at first but they heal.

[GT Motion]

When I was young and dumb, I was driving way too fast on the freeway, there was a gardners work truck merging onto the freeway while I was changing from the fast lane to the slow lane to get around slower cars. When I got into the slow lane I start approaching the truck really fast, I swerved to avoid it but turned the wheel too far to fast and I lost control and the car turned back across the middle and fast lane straight into the median at 80+mph. I went airborne, I remember looking straight over my steering wheel and the front of the car was pointed straight down at the ground and I was thinking "this is it". I landed somehow and ended up upside down in a slide, the car did a 360 spin while it was sliding and I was holding the roof hoping it wouldn't cave in on me, then the car came to a stop, I unbuckled, got out, and looked at my car upside down on the freeway with my belongings and car parts scattered across all three lanes.

 

The airbags I think actually saved me from a fatal or serious injury, I didn't get hurt from them at all, I just hated the smell of the dust. No other cars were involved, I only suffered a slight sprain to my ankle only from having my foot on the brake pedal during impact. I was fortunate to walk away from this one. I personally have learned not to drive like an idiot on the streets, I am planning on taking my 510 to the track once I get my suspension sorted out. It doesn't have a roll bar right now, so I am a little worried but not too much. I am not so worried about crashing on the street, I am more worried about a high speed sweeper at a race track if I lose control.

 

Pics of my first car, Eclipse GSX RIP.

 

 

 

[HRH]

Exactly. The 510 is not an automobile you're going to be piloting with massive distractions. UNLIKE newer cars which are so quiet, you can be going 100 and still be oblivious.

 

Consider this:

 

There are no cup holders in a 510, save your crotch, and if you have a drink there, odds are you're going to drive carefully so as not to spill it.

 

Most 510s I know of don't have loud stereos, so that doesn't provide a distraction.

 

When you hit 100 mph, you can feel and hear it with wind noise, chassis vibration, unlike a new car's "cocoon" effect.

 

Most 510s don't have AC, at least up here, so you spend a lot of time dressed for the elements with the window down, which leads to increased concentration on the road.

 

You know how delicate parts are for the 510 and the hunt to find them should you get nailed, thus you're more apt to drive defensively to protect your car.

 

As far as overall structural safety, they're still better than a motorcycle. But I pretend it's a motorcycle when I'm driving it. Same with the Miata. Both cars are low enough that getting hit by anything other than a similar size car, you're going to have a problem. Especially considering all the big trucks driving around in the northwest.

 

As for airbags, they only time they're warranted is in highway crashes at around 50+ mph. Other than that, they are completely unneeded and do more damage than good.