Sure, your driving will be different than the "average" but you do drive around so many other cars out there, that averages do have meaning if you think about cars hitting you!

So, if you don't like stats, how do you propose to get any sort of handle on relative safety? Also, it's entirely reasonable to take the averages, and then bias them based on your personal experiences. Taken a defensive driving course and learned something? That's good and can bias the numbers. But it's true that even for good drivers, something with soft suspension and bad numb steering will take longer to initiate a turn, or cars with long stopping distances take longer to stop. No matter the skill of the driver.
Really, I'd love to throw away all the numbers, but then what do you have? Uh, just gut feel and faith that your "better than average". I'm all ears for better ways to look at relative safety.

Matt

 

There will ALWAYS be someone who disagrees with you on any subject on any thread. If you'd really like to throw away the numbers...why don't you? Do you HAVE to read stats on everything to make decisions? :impatient I have never said that I don't read and keep up on stats and car reviews, I just feel that sometimes, some Namsters go overboard on numbers.

 

Dix, how else can safety be measured without using stats and numbers? Look at it this way, many members of NAM are high-performance oriented and their charting and graphing of experiments and tests on their MINIs may seem overboard to you and others, but it leads to improved tuning and better performance for MINIs. I appreciate their attention to such details.

 

I love it......you totally proved what all us Mini owners already knew. We made a very good choice!

 

In one post you say ignore the numbers. Then I ask what you suggest is better, and you say DON'T ignore the numbers. Hmm, seems to me you can't have it both ways.

Also, I'd put ignoring relavent information that can help to make a better descision "willful ignorance".

I actually was asking a question I find interesting to someone who works in the insurance industry about some of the safety stats that appear to contradict the mantra "bigger is better". Not only did you add nothing to that discussion, you slammed the question altogether.

Sure I like numbers, I'm a PhD physicist that literally lives (or lived) numbers in the quest for a better understanding of the operation of our universe. I've also found that the plural of anictodes isn't always data, and that long held belifes never challenged by the test of actuall validity rarely are valid.

I'd suggest that if there's a discussion that deals with quatitation of an issue you don't find interesting, to just say nothing instead of just posting something that adds nothing but negative comments to those that do care about the subject. Remember, if you have nothing nice to say....

Thank you for your thoughtfull and nuanced comments!

Matt

Edit: lanuguage revieison per request.

 

Well, to an extent, yes. But those factors are only used to add additional premiums onto the baseline rate, which was set based on the driving habits of your particular demographic.

In my 10 years of driving, I have had 0 speeding tickets and 0 (claimed) accidents. I think I get a whopping 2% off for the "safe driver" discount.

 

I guess so, except with all of the safety equipment these days I think more of them survive and continue to have an adverse impact on the statistics.