bigger engines mean fewer accidents

[joatmon]

http://www.mytelus.com/news/ar...02044Quote »Street smarts: high-powered cars less likely to crash, insurer findsMAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio (AP) - Bigger engines mean faster cars and more accidents, right?That intuitive logic is faulty, according to an analysis of more than 12 million passenger cars insured by Progressive, the third-largest auto insurer in the United States.It found cars with more than 200 horsepower actually generate 17 per cent fewer claims than those propelled by less than 200 horsepower.However, when the more powerful vehicles are involved in accidents, the dollar value of claims averages 22 per cent higher.Progressive said the effect is consistent: the more powerful a car model, the fewer but more costly its claims.The insurer's news release made no mention of factors that might skew the statistical correlation, such as the tendency of high-powered cars to be newer, more expensive and driven by more affluent owners.Progressive noted that the horsepower race continues to heat up. It says only nine per cent of all available makes and models of passenger cars in 1990 boasted more than 200 horsepower; that now has been torqued up to 54 per cent.

[redlava]

I figure cars with less horsepower are also a lot smaller. Which means that people tend to zoom in and out and through traffic more. That could also be a factor.