This is a very important subject that has always been a big muddle for me.

Some people say that minis are strong and safe (usually mini sympathisers)
Other people say they are death boxes (usually everyone else on the road)

'A mini is safe as the person driving it' is not the sort of response i am after.

I dont think there was much focus on safety in the 60s, even though my morris propaganda claims that they are safe, it is obvious that 80% of things written in the book were nonsense.

I doubt the chrome bumpers absorb any momentum, and being sitting in the rear seats in a rear end accident looks VERY scary.

People who survive accidents in minis often claim the mini as their savour, but im always looking for accident pics and they look pretty crushed up (as can happen to lots of cars).

I know that they can avoid accidents with handling etc, but in the case of an accident, how do they really fare? Accidents with trees.immovable objects and accidents with other vehicles.

What has been everyone elses experience?

Here are the articles on IME about this issue.
http://www.ime.org.uk/ime/s/safety_improving.html
http://www.ime.org.uk/ime/s/safety_crash_behaviour.html

A guy at work here reckons his wife had a head on in their clubbie a lot of years ago. He said she walked away from it with only minor injuries. He also told that the engine went down and under the car on impact - not into the cabin as you'd expect - he had heard that this was some sort of safety design feature - I don't know how true this is.

I think clubbies are the the safest - they're longer in the front, and have intrusion bars in the doors I think - someone else can confirm/deny this.

Only problem is you have to live with the stigma of driving a clubman instead of a round-nose

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Bob Slattery
Duffman Says A Lot of Things - OH YEAH!!

When you look at the design of the early minis you quickly realise that safety was of low concern. The lack of rear seatbelts, the flimsy feeling doors with the totally inadequate latch mechanism, the front seats that flip forward and although i can't confirm it I doubt there's a collapsable steering column there.

I think that they couldn't possibly compare to any car these days (even a Nissan Micra or something) in terms of safety. Minis really are death boxes but because we know this it's possible to be more cautious and avoid accidents or driving in adverse conditions.

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- Simon -

yeh i agree they have rear belts those things in the door a longer front and the seats cant flip forward and they are much better looking

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just drive next to a truck and see how safe you feel.

i'd go with the death box idea... but then again if there was a head on between a mini and a motorbike i know what i'd rather be in

my seats in my clubman flip forward? but it has a latch thing holding it like any other 2 door car? am i talking about something different?

in a clubman the seats onl flip forward if you us the latch thing but i think in other old minis the hole seat could flip forward

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1152cc turbo A-series now with 125.7hp at the wheels !

AUSSIE Turbo mini forum >> http://boostmini.justboard.net/

https://www.facebook.com/boostmini

Its just annoying to hear people say how safe they are and that they saved their life. when you live, you will happily praise anything. Lots of people seem to think they are safe and they brainwash others with these thoughts too (whether or not it is true, i dont know).

Im glad people here arnt so ashamed to say their pride and joy doesnt excell in everything.

Its the same annoying thing with every car, like "its a volvo, of course you're safe".

A while back on a volvo forum, one of the guys there was travelling accross the US in a late 70's 242, he had a head on with some new small car. He died but the 2 people in the other car survived because of air bags.

Though i do like to think that the mini is somewhat safe. Some total fluke design, like they ended up being such good racers.

Seats flipping forward really isn't of much concern for safety. Your seatbelt should hold you and your seat in place. If you are in a position where the seat is going to flip forward there is a good chance that you would have fallen out of the seat and through the windscreen, or at least be tangled in your steering wheel and dash.

The problem with the seat flipping foward is that in the event of an accident your seatbelt is the only thing stopping you from flying into the steering wheel or through the windscreen. The force on your chest and waist from this is quite high and it's not uncommon for people to be left with big bruises from where the belt has held them. If you add the mass of the seat to the stuff that the seatbelt has to stop then the force on your body is greater (ie: the seat will effectively be pushing you in the back)... Then if there are loose items on the backseat or people that fly forward as well and hit the seat then you add the mass of those too.

Basically if the seat cannot flip forward by itself then the only thing that your seatbelt has to stop is yourself. This reduces the possibility of broken ribs, being winded, bruising on your back from the steat frame (i know i can definitely feel the metal bars through the foam just by sitting in the seats) etc...

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- Simon -

someone on this forums mum rolled her mini i dont know how many times and walked away with minor injuries, they are more safe then the jap cars and stuff cos minis are all metal not big lumps of plastic

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Potato

My mum rolled a cooper s three times nose-tail at bathurst in the dipper while doing a hill climb from the top of conrod to the top of the hill (Backwards to race direction.) She was pregnant with my sister at the time (Explains alot) . My mum walked away with a slightly bruised leg. The car didn't fare quite so well. All bits were moved to a new body and it was back on the track 2 weeks later.

I saw a mini get t-boned by a truck doing 60km/hr ... was an original cooper s owned from new by this couple in their 70's ... considering the car was an absolute mess, both of them walked away from the incident relatively unhalmed ... safe cars ... probably not compared to todays standards ... but hey they survived ... what else could you ask for

momentum (mass x velocity)is always going to win, generally. a 4WD or a truck is going to make a right mess of almost any car it hits, mini or not.

however, saying they're a death trap is just plain silly also. unless you've been involved in a large accident in a mini and seen exactly what happened, and even felt what happened, then you're probably only speculating at best.

in the accident i was involved in, between my 600kg mini, and a 1600kg Nissan Serena, at an effective velocity difference of about 50-60km/h (in the same direction), hitting from behind, i came out with some whiplash. the car was repaired (badly), and is still on the road today, with no major crabbing.

a side impact is always going to be much more dangerous, whether in a Mini or not. i've not seen a large side impact on a Mini, but would imagine it could be quite nasty. someone else on here might be able to shed more light on that.

Doing a hill climb whilst pregnant ... typical crazy mini driver!

Ok lets look at a mini for safety, in the original design the motor/gearbox was designed to go under the car in the event of a front on collision, also the steering colomn was designed to go up and towards the roof in a front impact, not go straight at the driver. Seat fixings are to hold the seat, the driver is held by the seatbelt and considering that most cars of the 60s didn't even have front seatbelts minis were one of the first to be fitted with seatbelts, Ford and GM didnt think they wer needed and didn't start fitting untill made to by law. I really don't think looking at a semi is a good call as it doesn't matter what you drive unless its another semi 42 tonnes make a mess of any car if it hits you. Any vehicle designed in the 50s is not going to be the safest car on the road but the inherent good handling and abolity to get out of the way that a mini has is a great advantage in missing accidents, at least in a mini you can change lanes a couple of times without it falling over ala those new boxy mercs

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Roundies and Clubbies(except vans) are both ugly that is why I have Midas and a van
1293 Mini Midas Bronze,1275 Clubman van