Swedish study shows BMW drivers 10 times as likely to crash as Toyota drivers

you could guess this just driving around. may be an all around german growler problem.

 

Dang bisco, if I could hit the like button multiple times. VW seems to have that problem as well although Audi drivers are picking up the pace

 

So, if you own a BMW and a Toyota, are you more likely to crash in either vehicle, or just when driving the Bimmer?

 

Wow, did you see how the man and kvinna accident curves both went up after 70? Nuts, I'm getting close to that age bracket and so is my kvinna!
No surprise that the teenage man have more accidents than the teenage kvinna, though.

 

I think a big part of the problem is technical.

In much the same way as a fault in GM ignition switches has caused a large number of accidents in GM cars, there's a fault in BMWs that causes this problem.

In the X5 in particular, and the X3 - and to a lesser extent in under-powered 3 series (not so much the M3 - things like the 318i) - there's a flaw in the windscreen (windshield). This causes a terrible distortion. From the driver's position, it bends the light to make it appear that, when travelling at 70-80mph on a highway, the distance between you and the car in front is a nice, safe six or seven car-lengths. If the BMW driver were to get out of the car, he or she would see that the distance between the front of the BMW and the back of the car in front is in fact two or three feet. This is obviously down to a prisming effect in the windscreen, which somehow "stretches" that two or three feet to make it look like six or seven car lengths in the eyes of the driver.

The same flaw makes pedestrian crossings, disabled-parking signs, no-parking signs and school-zone signs invisible to many BMW drivers: this appears to be most pronounced in X5s, X3s and X6s.

And yet, in spite of this terrible flaw, it appears that, since about 2008, Audi has started using the same flawed-windscreen manufacturer for the A4 (especially the 1.8), the Q5 and the Q7.

I think there should be a recall.

 

I presume the rate is normalized to something, although I cannot verify this in the link.
Even so, normalized to what ? Registrations ? Car miles ?

Is geography considered ?
Is the rear-collision rate between car models about equal ? (that was used as a denominator.)

 

All sounds about right. It's nothing to do with jealousy or anything like that. BMW's are mostly driven by the "do you know who I am?" brigade. Self important toss pots. Usually stressed out salesmen or junior managers who are full of themselves and full of ****.




Not popular over here are they lol

 

vdub must also be using those windscreens. and for that matter, honda, volvo and suburu.

 

I think the problem is the part that goes between the seat and the steering wheel.

Oh?
How many is a "large number?" in large number of accidents?
GM is culpable in their ignition switch problems, but I think that the main problem is that there were NOT a "large number" of accidents - else the problem would have been identified and dealt with a lot more quickly.

That will probably happen.
Toyota got dinged for a giga-buck recently and GM is paying out millions....

Soon....recalls will be the cheaper route, but how do you recall moronic drivers?

 

Unscientific observations on my part have lead me to think this is not an exclusively BMW problem, nor is it necessarily endemic of drivers of German cars. Just yesterday, I was 'followed' halfway home by a lovely young lady in a Porsche. She made no attempts to pass, despite my leaving an entire car length in front of me on several occasions, and there was no tailgating, no weaving from side to side to see what could possibly be keeping me, and a distinct lack of light flashing and horn-honking. I felt respected, in a Prius, by a Porsche. It was a most unusual experience.

 

Pacing a Prius is generally a good way to avoid speeding tickets.

 

Or, as it used to be put, the most dangerous part of a car is the nut that holds the steering wheel.

 

I've driven a number of cars, and did not notice anything that might be dangerous about a BMW - not to dismiss they may have a windshield problem. Just to say if you are a good driver, you should be OK.

 

It wasn't that she respected the Prius. She'd seen you getting into the car, and thought you were hot. So she followed you. And who can blame her?

 

I think you may have missed the point. The real technical problem is, as ETC(SS) suggests, a wetware issue.

 

Same thought crossed my mind. It explains the 'tail gating.'

 

Maybe I really understated the driver factor.

Keep mentioning Bradshiers book The high and the mighty ... SUVs and performance sedans are so quiet with tiny sweep speedometers, etc drivers are partially blinded to risks they may take... the ones that take more chances.

Of

 

This is from All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses and Eye, by Christopher Brookmyre. It's a very good book. In fact, to make up for copying a page of text, I'm going to link to the Amazon page so you can all buy it.

This bit is particularly well-observed, and very relevant to this thread.

At this point, a respectable middle-aged woman, for reasons I'm not going to go into because it'll spoil a book you should all read, needs to steal a car. She heads to a supermarket car park.

For context, two thick yellow lines on the road in Britain (known as double yellow lines) mean "no parking".

 

Brookmyre is an excellent author; I've read all his books and recommend them highly.
Christopher Brookmyre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While all the books stand alone, some have continuing characters and are best read in sequence.