Are Convertibles Worth the Safety Risk?

Posted on Jan 11, 2022 in Safety | Comments Off on Are Convertibles Worth the Safety Risk?

Yesterday we drove Highway 1 in California from San Simeon to Monterey. This is the most beautiful segment of the most beautiful road in America, but one thing started driving me crazy:

One in ten cars that passed in the opposite direction was either a red convertible Camaro orMustang. That’s no exaggeration. I don’t know if there’s either a rental place that specializes in outfitting people with red convertibles or if people with red convertibles just like driving the 1, but it got to the point of being ridiculous. Every minute or two someone in the family announced the sighting of yet another convertible Mustang.

Without question, we have entered the season of convertibles. Warm weather brings dropped tops, messy hair, sunburned foreheads, and sun-bleached interiors.

I can’t blame the drivers on the 1 for their car choices. I spent the last few days touring Los Angeles in a MINI Cooper S convertible. I know, it’s not the most impressive of convertibles, but it offered plenty of fun in the California sun.

Convertibles are definitely fun, but they can also be more dangerous than their hardtop cousins.

What are some risks of owning a convertible?

The risk of a roll-over accident in a convertible is minimal, since the vast majority of them are sports cars with a low center of gravity. Any car, however, can roll over in the right circumstances. If you’re in a convertible when it happens, your odds of survival are considerably less than in a hardtop.

The Cooper S had a safety feature that I really liked. In the event of a roll-over accident, the roll bar, located behind the rear passenger seat, rises to give extra protection to the people inside. That should be a standard feature on all convertibles as far as I’m concerned.

Other cars include technology to minimize the risk of rolling the car in the first place, such as electronic stability control. Plenty of airbags in modern cars help protect occupants as well.

No convertible will be as safe as its hardtop counterparts, though. The added rigidity of an immobile roof provides much stronger protection and gives additional strength to the car’s body in case of a crash.

Even with the safety risk that comes with driving a convertible, the thrill and freedom of open-air driving is an unforgettable experience everyone should experience.