Some people think that driving a big, gas-guzzling vehicle, like an SUV, is safer than driving a small, economy car. The fact of the matter is that, for the most part, they are right. However, a new study just released by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HDLI), a non-profit company that is "dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries and property damage from crashes," and is supported by a consortium of insurance companies, says that gasoline/ electric hybrid vehicles are safer for those inside them than non-hybrid versions of the same vehicle. Furthermore, it's a pretty big difference. In fact, says the study, people involved in a crash while riding in a hybrid vehicle were 25 percent less likely on average to be injured than someone in the non-hybrid version of the same vehicle.
To determine this, the HLDI examined insurance claim records for 25 models of hybrid cars and their non-hybrid equivalents for the years 2002-2010.
The reason for the difference is that electric motors and batteries are heavy and hybrid vehicles, therefore, weigh significantly more than non-hybrids. In a collision the heavier vehicle retains more momentum than the smaller vehicle or, as the HLDI puts it, in a head-on crash, "the bigger, heavier vehicle will push the smaller, lighter one backward on impact." That means the people inside the heavier car will experience lower forces than those in the lighter car.
Under the old paradigm, before hybrid technology, a heavier vehicle used more gasoline because it simply takes more energy to move a heavier car. With hybrid engines, on the other hand, gasoline power is supplemented by electricity that is generated by the braking action of the vehicle and stored in batteries until it's needed. In essence, that's free power which more than offsets the extra weight of the car. Hybrid technology, therefore, allows increased