Would you prefer an agile car or a tank?

Big truck and little car
Click here to enlarge image.

Jerry P. Hirshberg, Nissan’s retired president of North American design, once stated that when “Europeans think about safety, they think about a light, agile car” — much like the one pictured on the left. However, the “American image of safety is put a tank around me, get as much mass as possible and let Isaac Newton work his magic” (Bradsher, 2002; p. 107).

Of course, not all Americans think that way. But those of us who gravitate toward a European sensibility are at a potentially fatal disadvantage if our delightfully agile small car fails to avoid a collision with a large truck or SUV.

Also see ‘2019 auto design: One step closer to machine guns?’


RE:SOURCES

This is an updated version of a story first posted March 10, 2018.

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