AUTO SAFETY: Small Size, Big Risk

It is hardly a new thought that a small car will crumple more easily in a crash than a big auto, but just how much does the safety risk grow as cars shrink? To find out, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research group financed by auto insurers, ran a series of head-on test crashes at 40 to 50 m.p.h. Each collision pitted a small car against a larger model produced by the same U.S. manufacturer: a Chevrolet Vega against an Impala, a Ford Pinto against a Galaxie, a Dodge Colt against a Plymouth Fury, an American Motors...

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