If You Had To Bet Your Life, Would You Be In A 5-Series Or An Escalade In A 50MPH Head On Crash

For starters, the BMW handles better so I would be able to easily avoid the accident in the first place :)

what other vehicle am crashing against?

Like uaw said "what is it crashing into" and the Editor comment is just stupid in reference to the question.

I guess the Escalade, because its going to be higher than the 5er.

Question is MOOT, NOBODY survives head-on collisions, at 50mph. Collisions with walls, at that speed is one set of variables, 2 cars, traveling at the same speed, toward each other, to the point of impact, is a whole different ballgame, no survivors :/

Two cars at 50, yes there are survivors, but not all of the time, my friend in his Jeep went head on to a F-150 at highway speed, the guy in the ford sadly died, my friend woke up in the hospital, this is a smaller Jeep! you never would have guessed that.

i was in one at approximately 35mph. in a 3-series. i was in shock but i walked away from the car.

hitting a wall at 50mph or another car going 50mph in the opposite direction is the same impact, FWIW.

No it is not the same. you are traveling 50 mph hitting a stationary object. A head on collision at 50 mph is worse because not only wre you traveling at 50 mph, the other car is also traveling that speed coming towards you.I'm guessing you didn't do too well in 8th grade science. a 50 mph head on collision is comparable to hitting a stationary object at 100mph. you have the force and energy from TWO vehicles colliding. That will make at lease twice the impact if not more If you consider the Escalade is bigger.

I would say the BMW due to better active as well as passive avoidance features, better handling and acceleration to get out of danger and harm's way, Editor isn't all that wrong...The 5 series also is less susceptible to rollovers than the Escalade and the design deflects away crash energy better than the Escalade. I don't say this, my friends PHYSICS does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCecdOBCFjI

Half the time size and ride height will contribute absolutely nothing to the overall safety. The 5 Series would be better in terms of reinforcement, is loaded with safety features and measures to help minimise injury/impact (before and after an accident) and would handle better. Importantly, it also is a very safe car not only to the occupants in the 5 but also those around it, as unlike the Escalade, it probably won't tear itself up and smash everything in front of it to smithereens in a desperate attempt to salvage the driver's life, but instead the 5 would try to minimise the impact and injury to everyone involved in the accident.

I would definitely take the 5.

The BMW is almost guaranteed to be safer if it were to collide with a wall at 50, but head on, I would go with the larger Chevy any day, even it it were a very large old monster truck that was fully caged I would also go with the monster truck and pray for the BMW driver.

Yes I was wrong,lol, I was assuming.

Yes I was wrong,lol, I was assuming.

Neither - I'd want to be in a Land Rover and a NYC Taxicab. Anyone see the picture of the accident on the FDR Drive a few days ago? Land Rover traveling at 120 mph on the FDR loses control, flies off the road, falls 20 feet to the surface street below and lands on a taxi's roof. Everyone survives - a few even walk away.

Asinine, loaded question. I'll take the BMW with body-on-frame construction designed to pull a 7,000 lb trailer. Oh wait, there isn't one...

Is Autospies planning a real-world test to give us the correct answer? Then why even waste electrons on a stupid question?

Idiot

The question was for a HEAD ON COLLISION.

So WTF should I imagine a T-Bone situation ?

I would take BMW for sure.They have a lots of feature that prove is safer that the Escalade,and every time I saw an accident with a big SUV like Ford, Chevrolet and GMC they always are with the wheels up and the roof in very very bad condition so I have the oportunity to see like 5 accident with my eyes.

By the way the photo posted of the blue car is a Toyota Yaris 4 door so the photo speak for it self , OMG.

According to NHTSA the 2012 BMW 5 series gets four stars out of five and the 2011 Escalade gets 5 for frontal collision. If I had to bet my life I would choose empirical test data over anything.

that said, NHSTA ratings are different based on vehicle type. Trucks and suv's are naturally rated harder then midsize and compact cars.

Statistics prove that there are very, FEW head-on crashes, what we usually believe are head-on, are NOT, they are offset crashes, because one or the other driver, usually turns at the last second...this creates the offset. The NHTSA figured that out, and began testing for it. I stand by my previous statement, head-on crash at 50mph...no survivors.

Two cars traveling 50mph and crashing head-on creates the same impact force as a single car crashing into a stationary object at 100mph. I'd probably bet no survivors, but miracles do happen...

except if your vehicle weighs twice as much as the oncoming vehicle...

Then it's closer to a crash at 75mph.

Scratch that... equal weights=stopping in the same distance, double weight in an escalade would be like an accident at 25mph, where as the half weight vehicle would be comparable to a 75mph crash.

Capt

Your calculations are wrong

Do some research before posting bullshit.

The Captain is absolutely correct, no research required; this is basic high school physics. did you graduate?

This question makes no sense but I will take the bait. The things you pay for in a BMW or Mercedes-Benz you can not see. The role of the car is that large stretches of the German Autobahn network do not feature any speed limit except a recommended 130 km/h (81 mph). Driving at rather high speeds for extended periods tends to result in an increased strain on a vehicle and requires careful engineering. BMW has sought to engineer its all of it's vehicles, most notably the 3 Series, 5 Series & 7 Series, to excel in this very unique high speed extreme environment. Specific standards of engine performance, body integrity, and reliability are part of this process. The average speed on the Autobahn is 110mph and the average here is around 55mph. If you were in a crash what would you want to be in?

In light of that, most crashes as "ggcras" are not head but offset front end collsions. So to take an "Escalade" and it crashes it may do well but with it's propensity of rollover (known as roof crush) as a secondary crash element and a survival rate of around 10% in a roof crush accident, I would take the 5 Series everytime. You get what you pay for.

Dont worry about the De-Boosts

People on this site hate the truth.

the bmw. first off, you'd probably be able to minimize the impact by avoiding a head-on collision. second, the crumple zones and the steel cage are ridiculously strong in a bmw. third, the safety systems...from airbags to seat design to steering column design...are vastly superior and would protect you far better.

Thank you for that Logical analysis.

Something that is very rare on this site.

That was a delightful infomercial BadMan, and no doubt exactly what the author was fishing for when he posted the question. I think most automakers have mastered the "increased strain" of high speeds with modern cooling systems, overdrive transmissions, etc. In fact, since the speed limit in much of the US was 70+ MPH in throughout the 50s, 60s, and early 70s, I don't even know if such "careful engineering" is required in 2011; the bugs are pretty well worked out.

And where is this mythical part of the US that has an average speed of 55 MPH? The energy conservation limit bit the dust in most states over twenty years ago. I don't think I've seen an average person doing 55 on a limited access highway since The Cannonball Run was in theaters.

Finally, I don't know who wants to scare drivers more with the idea of rollovers more... NHTSA safety bureacrats trying to justify thier jobs, or auto "enthusiasts" who would just as soon ban everything that isn't to their liking.

Here's what I do know:

2010 Cadillac CTS Driver: **** Passenger: *****
2010 BMW 5-series Driver: *** Passenger: *****

Cadillac CTS:

Frontal Head Injury Criterion Chest Deceleration (g's) Femur Load (lbs)
Drivers Side 545 HIC 43g 99lbs | 147lbs
Passenger Side 478 HIC 35g 481lbs | 197lbs

BMW 5-Series:

Frontal Head Injury Criterion Chest Deceleration (g's) Femur Load (lbs)
Drivers Side 721 HIC 57g 100lbs | 382lbs
Passenger Side 321 HIC 44g 1060lbs | 226lbs

So in an apples-to-apples comparison, looks like you're safer in a Caddy.

This answer is based on facts and not opinions, I like both and I refuse to let an ignorant bias control my mind ever! thanks for doing the homework, you have the best answer hands down and I don't think many people want to admit it, very typical,lol

Admittedly the Cadillac gives up quite a bit in terms of safety marketing and other magical Aryan touches to the BMW.

Despite the BMW's "ridiculously strong crumple zones" steel cage-fighting ability, and vastly superior airbags, seat designs, and steering column; in testing, it somehow offers less protection than a Cadillac CTS.

I'm sure this is just in a lab, not in the real world where the "magic" happens.

LOL at the actual NHTSA numbers being voted down by BMW fan-boi's.

I read not too long ago the 5 series came out last in a crash test on luxury cars of around its size.Even a Hyundai came in above it.

You can´t argument that the Caddy has the better high-speed safety profile over the BMW by using deceleration numbers at much lower speeds! The BMW has a much stiffer frame compared to the Caddy. This results in higher deceleration numbers at lower speeds, but gives you the room for survival at life-threatening high-speed crashs. By the way....the BMW F10 has the highest torsion rigidity ever seen in this class!

Tom, your argument is nonsense. If you are trying to imply that the BMW would retain its shape better after a high speed impact (for which you supply no evidence) the bad news is that your internal organs would detach because of the higher deceleration G-forces they would subjected to in an "ultra" high speed impact. Dead is dead, whether it comes from a piece of steel impacting you externally, or your brain being ripped loose from your cerebelum. There is no "bell-curve" of G-force that decreases at higher speeds... If they are higher at 35 mph, they're higher (exponentially) at 50, 75 or 100 MPH.

Accept the fact that General Motors did a better job of designing a structure that absorbs impact, and a better job at protecting occupants from injury than your beloved BMW. Third-party testing shows this to be true. Your argument is based in emotion, not science. Get on with life.