1999-2009 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I am an unabashed safety nut and an attorney who has handled only personal injury cases for 25 years.
First of all, I would like to say one thing from handling many cases: Active safety is way over rated. Most of my clients claim they never had anytime to react to the accident. Many never saw it coming at all. Excellent brakes and an excellent suspension help lessen the severity of some accidents but they usually don't make enough difference to cause the complete avoidance of a severe accident.
I also have two daughters who drive. Since learning about Saab in 1999, I wouldn't and haven't put them in anything else. Last year one was hit head on at night by a drunk driving north in southbound lanes of traffic without headlights on around a curve. My daughter was doing 65 mph in her 99 9-3. She was able to avoid a complete frontal at the last second when her lights glinted off the other car's bumper but she had a severe frontal offset collision instead. The other driver was driving a Daihatsu Chirade and was immediately killed. My daughter climbed out of her car, went to the ER for a check up and was released that night with a severely sprained left foot. The police and doctors could not believe how well she had done in this accident. The police estimated the other driver's speed about the same as my daughter's because the other driver's car ended up about as far north of the collision as my daughter's car was south.
When I bought this 9-3, I was very concerned that the 9-3 hadn't done particularly well in frontal offset collision tests. The 9-3 held up very well in this accident.
In IIHS real world accidents the 99-02 9-3 scored a 58, and the 9-5 only slightly better, a 53. The average score for all cars is 100 with lower numbers being a better than average safety number. The scores of 58 and 53 are substantially better than average and it only takes a score of 70 or less to be substantailly better tahn average. The Volvo S80 scored a 61. The few cars that beat the 9-5 in IIHS studies, cost substantially more and were usually substantially heavier.
Someone else has sent you to the Folksam website which you should also check out and which names the 9-5 as the safest car in Sweeden. You have also been referred to Euroncap.com which gave the 9-5 the highest test rating in Europe at the time and has only been bested by one car since.
Not so well known is FARS, the US government's Fatality Analysis Reporting Service's website. It may be the best indicator of all as to safety performance because it measures death and nothing else. Injuries vary widely in severity and also many severe injuries do not show up immediately
(herniated discs for example which are the major cause of back surgery) and thus injury stats may not be the most reliable means of assessing risk. But death stats are very reliable as most deaths occur shortly after the accident. Here Saab's truly shine. The average number of deaths per 100,000 registered vehicles for the last few years is about 18 or 19 per year. Since 1999, Saab has averaged about 3 deaths per 100,000 registered vehicles. Unless you know whow many vehicles were on the road each year, you can't tell this from the website, but I have been able to calculate this number based upon Saab sales during this period. I can't find any manufacturer that comes close.
I hope this helps in your decision.
posted by 24.56.84...
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
