Designed for Maximum Damage

When I was growing up, during the late 60’s and early 70’s, there was a scandal brewing about the way cars were designed. Although it seems preposterous now, the front bumper and the back bumper of the same car were aligned so that, should there be an accident, the front of the car would be smashed in. Outrageous!

Ralph Nader (whose birthday is today, by the way) may have been the one who called the automakers out on this and other obvious design flaws. So they fixed it.

Or so we thought. For some unknown reason I decided to research this mismatch of bumper alignment and got the image shown above. Then the penny dropped!

The auto industry wants to phase out sedans (especially Ford). The Sport and Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are now all the rage, and in Canada especially, trucks are the biggest sellers. But how to change the minds of the car-buying public? Make them less safe…

In a fender-bender, the sedan will suffer far more damage than the SUV or truck. People want to feel secure in their vehicles. Ergo, it would be best to buy the bigger, more expensive ones. There, job done.