Interesting reading.
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >
For example, another type of relatively inexpensive sports car, the BMW
3-series, came in only slightly higher than the national average of two deaths per
10,000 registered passenger cars in the first IIHS compilation of fatal crash
statistics released in 1989.
Corvette drivers died at more than two-and-a-half times that average, and drivers
of the Camaro and Mustang weren't far behind. The 4.9 death rate scored by the
larger Chevy, and the 4.4 of the Ford are both more than twice that of the
average, with room to spare.
The Firebird's death rate of 3.8, by contrast, seems the safest of the lot. Still the
rate is in the same range as the others, with almost twice the deaths per 10,000
registered vehicles of all other models.
In 1991 the IIHS released an expanded study using information on the 1984 to
1988 model years. While the national average remained the same at two deaths
per 10,000 registered vehicles, the additional years diluted the death rates of the
sports cars somewhat.
The usual suspects still top the list, though. From the Firebird death rate (again
the best of the worst) at 3.2, the death rate increased to a tie between the
Mustang and Camaro at 4.3, and finally up to a 4.7 for the Chevrolet Corvette
Coupe. The Corvette again rang in at almost two-and-a-half times the national
average and nine times that of the safest car, Volvo's 240 station wagon.
"People drive the Corvette differently than they would drive a Volvo and it tends
to be a different type of driver," says Daniel Pund, an associate editor for Car
and Driver magazine. "There's nothing inherently unsafe about the Corvette."
While he concedes that the Corvette produces a lot of power, and the rear-wheel
drive of the 'Vette is less common across the fleet of cars than it once was,
Pund insists that the domestic sports cars aren't to blame.
"The Firebirds and Camaros have done very well in crash tests," says Pund.
"Combined with high death rates, what that statistic tells you is how people
handle those cars."
Champion of Consumers Union agrees that the type of driver is an important
factor. "The person behind the wheel has a lot to do with the death rates," says
Champion.
And young males, propelled by their testosterone, are the ones that are most
likely to die in a car crash, says Champion.
"Look at sports cars as opposed to minivans. Minivans tend to be driven by
some of the safest drivers out there," says Champion. "Minivan drivers tend not
to speed, they tend not to drive at night after drinking heavily, and the death
rates are much lower than sports cars."
The statistics tell the same story. Between 1985 and 1989, 90 percent of all
deaths in Corvettes occurred with men at the wheel, and 56 percent with drivers
under 30 years old. For the Camaro, Firebird, and Mustang, more than 70
percent of crashes involved drivers under 30, and more than 70 percent of drivers
were male.</blockquote>