ADUK Archive

TR4ffic wrote:Peugeot 107 worked out the best option insurance-wise when my son started driving and, presumably, the Citroen C1 version.

By far the cheapest to insure would have been an old VW Beetle but the thought of putting junior into a car with drum braked, no ABS, no crumple zones et al didn't seem the best way forward despite the financial incentive...

No doubt newer cars, with crumple zones etc., give much better protection to the occupants in the event of a serious shunt, but are many people seriously nervous about driving cars with drum brakes and no ABS? Maybe they are, but if that is the case, it doesn't say much for present day driving standards.

Still, when driverless cars are the norm I'm sure all our road safety problems will be behind us.

TR4ffic wrote:the thought of putting junior into a car with drum braked, no ABS, no crumple zones et al didn't seem the best way forward

Isn't that the sort of thinking that leads to not letting kids walk to school?

my 43yr old Landrover series 2a has cart springs and drum brakes - it is amazingly quick to brake (from max speed of c. 50!) - but the springs and brakes are all new...

It has no crumple zones or airbags that I am aware of but I reckon its chassis would probably split another car in half so I suspect it is reasonably safe...

however its steering does have a propensity to take you via the nearest ditch (for a little off-roading of course!)

Alasdair