Safety is sometimes removed from peoples thinking when buying a car, but now that my daughter's life has been saved twice by airbags, it's the most important thing on our minds.

The last accident was not her fault when a man busted through a red light at a high rate of speed. There is a chance that you will have no control of a real life situation on the road. My '05 FEH was ordered by me with side airbags and I would have ordered any other safety options available at that time, because I would find the extra money for safety.

If the FEH came standard with the safety equipment without a higher cost, my daughter would have bought one last month. Instead, she bought a '07 Honda EX Civic which had standard safety equipment and good crash tests. The '07 HCH had not been released at that time.

Not only can safety equipment save your life and injuries, I save a little on car insurance also. Really don't think people drive faster in the rain because they have ABS either.

GaryG

 

This is obvious. IF we all drove '63 air cooled VW's, rear engine Renault's with no seat belts, the roads would be a lot different than IF we all drove Caddies, Hummers, and "Suburb"ans. Easy.

I recall when 4x4's were for cowboys and loggers. Then it was sold to urban cowboys as romantic and SAFER. When they started doing endo's on the freeways and flipping on the off ramps it was the vehicles fault. Not the n#mb n%uts drving it like is was a 'vette!

Steve
Oregon

 

Is that the same theory as in ice hockey, that there are less highsticking and head injuries when all players didn't wear helmets? Some safety features I believe have saved many; belts,front bags,power brakes,chasis & compartment design.I'm still not totally sold on curtain bags. As for elec. stab. stuff, I've had Sequoia with, and didn't find a purpose. I would never push an SUV just to find it's limitations. They're all top heavy and wearing oversized tires. Icy & wet conditions conditions will always throw you off, no matter what gizzmo is on board.IMHO

 

The stability control does help. People tend to think they don't need things because they are safe drivers, but not everyone else on the road is. A co-worker came in telling a story where someone did a lane change without looking almost right into the side of her vehicle. At 70mph she swerved into the median in her SUV. She was able to keep the vehicle upright and slow down with few problems (other than having the wits scared out of her). She had stability control. If she'd been in a standard SUV and hit the median at 70, the SUV would have almost certainly ended up in a roll. In tests stabilty control was found to reduce the likelyhood of the SUV from going into a roll something like 50% (can't quote me on that...I THINK thats the number I heard on NPR).

As for do people drive faster because they have ABS? I live in MI. From my experience I can tell you that almost all the vehicles at or exceeding the speed limit when the roads are a sheet of ice are SUV's... most likely they all think their four wheel drive will save them. So...I'd say the study is correct and many people who have these safety features WILL drive more aggressively in dangerous situations thinking they feature will save them. I don't have alot of faith in the general publics driving skills.

 

I believe it came as a surprise, ...during the first several years of mass production of ABS equipped vehicles,....that crash/injury statistics weren't coming down as much as predicted. Turns out that veteran drivers that had learned to "tap/pump the brakes" in slippery situations had to re-learn how to use ABS. ABS works its magic when the driver "slams" on the brakes in a slippery condition and lets the computer "tap/pump" the brakes. [Hard to change that instinct after some many years of tapping] I think that the prevalence of ABS systems and the new generations of drivers have improved the effectiveness of ABS.

I'm still not sold on VSC. Yes, in the largest SUVs that need any help they can get to avoid roll-overs. But, the field of artificial intelligence has not progressed to the point were computers can predict the correct response from every situation the vehicle encounters (or its sensors think it is encountering).

And don't get me started on TPMS. Is it too much to ask to check the air in your tires? Corvettes and some others okay.....but to be mandated by law..........
........I'll admit that sometimes I can look at a tire that is 10-12lbs low and think it is okay. But a mandatory law - like seatbelts?

 

I bought the FEH with side airbags. I have my family on board, and safety is the #1 concern at all times. It does not make any difference how many years you have been driving when a nut hits you after jumping a red light. Or you roll over after somebody cuts infront of you. ABS? please. Airbags? the more the better. Stability control? It wasnt' available then. Like the 4wd: I may not need it for my daily commute in LA, but I would be sure pist if I bought the 2wd and one day on the years I will have the car I could not go somewhere for fear of getting stuck, or got stuck because I did not buy it. And I do make sure I use it and go places where a 2wd could get in trouble.

Leather? nah
Safety? yes please.

Juan S. Fernandez
06 FEH, 06 HCH
Los Angeles, CA

 

If you go to this link on the Ford Edge http://media.ford.com/newsroom/featu...?release=24234 you will read the Edge not only has electronic stability control but also rollover control. This means, there is no reason why the Escape hybrid can not be equipped with this vital safety feature. Am I correct in that the Ford Edge is to offer a hybrid engine in the near future?

 

I would love to get a FEH but insist on having ESC. From the press releases, it looks like it's not going to be offered standard in 2008 - but is there any reason to hold out hope that it might be offered as an option? Or am I just thinking wishfully?

If not, I might have to get the Highlander Hybrid instead (which does have ESC, I believe). A shame, as I don't like it as much. Plus it's an extra 5G or so...

 

The Toyota Highlander Hybrid has it standard it's caleld VDIM and it's an intergrated software package, it includes Electronic Stability Control, ABS Brakes, Brake Assist with electronic brake force distrobution, and traction control.
And all Toyota SUV's have had electronic stability control since 2004
Ford just is too lazy to figure it out.

 

Volvo is independent from Ford and has offerred electronic stability as an option for some of its models since 2002. All 2007 Volvo's have electronic stability as a standard feature. Ford now has electronic stability on the 2008 Escape (which are now shipping) as a standard feature but...for some reason it is not offerred on the Hybrid Escape! I was at a dealership this past weekend. The salesperson told me this could change in the near future.