Type 44/5000 safety rating

[Michael Guidotti]

well the thing is that from 1985 to 1989 the 5000 (type 44) had some MAJOR interior changes the biggest thing being an airbag which was probably the main reason the safety rating improved so much,  the other thing is that the 89 car actually has thick  padding for your knees something the earlier cars had none of! and that can lead to serious injury in the right type of accident. I dont think there was anything wrong with the testing in 85 its just that the cars got a lot better in 89.
for its time it was a fairly safe car but in no way can it compare to any modern cars for safety. Sure you cant test for every type of collision but the crash tests that the NHTSA and the insurance institute do represent some of the most serious situations you could be in and give you an overall idea of how safe a car is, much more so than someone saying that they were in an accident and walked away cause you have absolutly no idea what was involved in a crash on the street.

Mike Guidotti


>>> Efraim Gavrilovich <egav at wireless2000.com> 08/28/02 12:05AM >>>
.....It shows one star driver side and five star passenger side ratings at
frontal impact for 1985 5000. The rating for 1989 for 100 shows big
improvement - five stars both sides. I am sure something was wrong with the
testing in 1985, but it's there, black on white. Too bad this poor woman
believed these so called "facts"....