Damn Dan, I didn't think it'd been that close to a year.
A few years ago, I was road testing a Chevy K-20 pickup when a girl pulled out in front of me. I was going about 40 MPH. She was driving a car about that size, a Sunbird I think, and pulled out from a side street in the rain. The big Chevy 4X4 damn near pushed the driver's door to the console. It bent a fender, knocked out a headlight, bent the bumper, and cracked the grille. I had a bruise on top of each thigh from the steering wheel, as I was standing on the brakes when we collided. I have no idea how she survived.
The laws of physics support the big car theory. It has more inertia, and it has more mass to absorb the energy transfered in a crash. Having worked a few wrecks as a deputy, and as a tow truck driver, I can say that in most cases the larger, heavier car tends to spare its occupants more of the damage than the smaller cars. I really do like trucks and at least mid sized SUV's. As much as I love a smaller, quicker car, and I own a Firebird, as well as two G body GM cars and a Corvair, I know driving them is riskier. The only thing the Firebird has going for it is the good handling and the air bags. Other than that it is a light, low, plastic death trap.
