In a message dated 10/7/03 8:11:01 PM, jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET writes:

<< which is a bit odd, since my insurance company, USAA, gives me a

"safe-car" discount on my 91 and 88 buses. seems their data shows

that by sitting up higher than the wheels, the vanagon has fewer

and less severe medical injuries in daily-driving accidents. i

prefer to think that sitting up high gives me better visibility

to avoid accidents. :) >>

Indeed! I should have mentioned in my previous comment on this issue that
insurance underwriting is often based on real statistics. Over the years a
serious database has evolved on injuries by year, model severity and type. Because
of the numbers, the local details of the collision dynamics tend to be
normalized and a picture more representative of the crash worthiness results. The same
data about repair costs is available from similar insurance sources. Read
your premium notice in detail.

Far more informative and reliable than any crash test scores reduced to a
pablumesque table by government civil servants.

Frank Grunthaner