Which vehicle is safer in a crash, a Volvo or a Suburban?

Question

Why?

Answer 1

Probably the Suburban. Why ? Because it's bigger and heavier. The safest car in the world is useless if so idiot in a bigger vehicle hits you.And that is what is usually aiming a Suburban down the road.

Answer 2

The Suburban..................

The frame on a truck is far stronger than a car frame, let alone the structure the car has above it's own frame - again causing less damage to the truck.

And last, but not least, many cars HAVE NO FRAMES: they are a unibody contruction that relies on the structural integrity of the body itself.

This is far weaker than having a solid steel frame running the length of the vehicle that also attaches to the body of the vehicle itself.

Answer 3

Which Volvo, and what Suburban.  Are you belted?  What do you hit?

If it's a single vehicle crash (e.g., running off the road because the driver did something stupid), the Volvo is safer because it's less likely to roll over.

In a head-on crash into a solid barrier, the Volvo wins again because it's better designed to protect its occupants.

If they run headon into another vehicle of equal weight the Volvo wins again for the same reason.

In a head-on crash with a heavier vehicle (say a Peterbilt with a load of structural steel) ditto (they're both toast).

In a collision head on with a lighter vehicle the Suburban is better because there are more vehicles that are lighter than a Suburban (most other passenger vehicles).

If they run into each other (the least likely situation) the Suburban wins because of the above.

The real question is which vehicle is safer overall, and there the Volvo wins hands-down, because it is better designed to keep you out of an accident.

And since you cannot predict that you will have a head-on collision with a lighter vehicle (the only case where the Suburban has an advantage), rather than any of the myriad other kinds of accidents that happen, the Volvo is safer.  For one thing, the Suburban can actually cause an accident just because of what it is, a clumsy, heavy vehicle with long stopping distances, poor transient handling, low ultimate cornering power, and a high center of gravity.

UCANTCME is way behind the times.  

First, he addresses only collision safety, which you cannot guarantee will be your experience.  

Second, a rigid frame is the last thing you want if you want the occupants of a vehicle to survive a crash with few injuries.  A rigid frame transmits all the force of the impact to the occupants, while a properly designed structure absorbs the force of the impact by sacrificing itself, while the passenger compartment remains intact.  

This has been known since 1959, when Daimler-Benz patented the first progressive deformation car body, and licensed the design for free to all manufacturers.

The Suburban, in crash tests, does a pretty good job protecting its occupants in a collision, but its rollover resistance is abysmal.  As I stated, it is among the worst vehicles in which to try to avoid an accident.