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From: timlee@netcom.com.DELETE-THIS.BIT (Timothy J. Lee)
Subject: Safety factors Re: Buying new car - Corolla?
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Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 02:34:35 GMT
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Mike Baldwin <mbaldwin@eecs.tufts.edu> writes:
|You say it costs a bunch- are there other equally reliable, comparable
|quality cars for less? We are also looking at the Honda Civic for my
|sister.

Since you said that safety and reliability, as well as budget, are the
primary factors, what aspects of safety are important?

Handling, braking, acceleration?  Read the reviews and test drive,
	paying close attention to how well the car handles and brakes.
	If there are short on-ramps, take a test drive that includes
	such an on-ramp to see if the car can reach freeway speed
	on such an on-ramp before being forced to merge.

Visibility?  Check for amber rear turn signals, side mounted additional
	turn signal (on the fender just in front of the driver door), 
	and, if daytime running lights are included, that the daytime
	running lights are not blindingly annoying.  Consider choosing
	a visible color that stands out in the driving environments.
	If you can test drive at night, pay attention to how well the
	headlights work, and if (on low beam) they are annoying to
	oncoming drivers or those you are following.

Crash tests?  The government does front and side crash tests, and
	the insurance company group does front offset crash tests.
	These are on the web somewhere.

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy J. Lee                                                   timlee@
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