I'll chime in here regarding the safety of cars.. I'm afraid to say that the average modern car, be it a bubble car or family sedan, is always going to fair up exponentially better in the event of an equivalent accident (or I should say the occupants will fair up better, the car doesn't but that's why the occupants do).
I attended a head on between a wee bubble car and an old Dodge ute (I've seen many accidents but this one springs to mind). The bubble car turned to dust with a few bits of twisted shrapnel laying around and the occupants were all walking around, more or less uninjured wondering WTF had happened. The Dodge had some front end damage for sure, but it became apparent that the main 'crumple zone' of that particular model happened to be the occupants knees.
The other flip side to this argument is that people have what's known as 'risk homeostasis'. This basically refers to taking extra risk where a perceived increased level of safety exists. Let's apply this here, average joe buys a car with all the safety features and drives faster, turns corners quicker, pulls out into traffic with less gaps and generally takes a greater risk than he would have with his very old and 'unsafe' car. Why? He perceives that he is safer in this car and in turn still maintains a similar level of risk, often increased.
Having said all this, I whole heartedly agree with the idea of putting the Fam in the Sierra Mr Rocky!! Not for the thought of maiming or killing them, but because life is meant to be lived and not cotton wool packed. You can do all the 'right' things and live in absolute fear of anything dangerous and one day you might still be all crap out of luck and cop it anyway. That's life, your kids will love your old mobile, let them experience it. Don't take this to mean you should put your kids in direct and foolhardy peril, understand risks and mitigate them where possible, avoid excessive risk.
I frequently enter this discussion when I hear things like 'motorbikes are dangerous' and 'don't go in the water because sharks are dangerous'. Is swimming at the beach or diving more dangerous than driving a 5star safety rated car to the shops? No.
I get asked why I ride motorcycles because surely I've seen people killed on motorbikes. Yes I have, but I've also seen people killed in cars but I also drive one of them. Get your seats approved and post pics of your family having a phat time
Then we will start a 'all the crazy crap we did as a kid that no one will let kids do now' thread
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