There's always the chance that someone can get seriously hurt in a car. It could be operator error or the surronding environment. For anyone to think they are 100% "safe" in any car is crazy. Paying attention and don't drive like a fool could be applied to any car to reduce the risk but in my FIT I do feel safe and confident for my childrens saftey (6 year old girl, 6 month old boy) when considering outside forces. If I was commuting on a major highway everyday it may be different but as it stands I am not.

 

Bra, you don't have to shift to change lanes. If sudden acceleration after the lane change is what was needed to keep you safe, then for sure you want to be in a manual transmission car to down shift and get the best acceleration possible. You say the hand has to be off the wheel "at least twice" when in fact it must be off the wheel once at most.

I think this discussion is clutching at straws. I assure you that manual transmission and auto transmission are equally safe; if auto makes you feel more safe then it's the right choice for you but I wouldn't go as far as insinuating that one is less safe then the other. Learn to drive manual, try it for a couple of years then report back.

As they say, "don't knock it till you tried it", and by your comments it really sounds like you haven't tried it

 

Well does it count that I started driving on MT? (although I admit that was a long time ago)

My scenario was a continuation of an earlier post if you don't understand what I'm saying.
Quick recap, I'm on the highway, get cut off and guy crashes right in front of me, slam the brakes/downshift, switch lanes to dodge, floor it to avoid being rear ended, need maximum accel so potentially downshift again depending on your speed. I guess you'd only need to shift once if you go straight to 1, but in the heat of the moment I would find it hard to anticipate what would happen next, and I don't want to be thinking about those kinds of things in that kind of situation. Just "what could happen next" and "do I need to go faster or slower, left or right" etc. you get the point, I just want to be focused on the situation and not the mechanics of driving at that point. If you don't agree with how I feel here, fine, we are all entitled to our opinions.

So, two points in that situation why I personally feel safer with AT. 1 both hands are on the wheel 100% of the time, 2 I'm not thinking about which gear to go to depending on speed or what I need to do next ( in this case max acceleration). Maybe that doesn't sound hard, but it's certainly not easier in an emergency situation and my reflexes are definitely not that fast


And yes, I already agreed that this is a very hypothetical situation. But if took me all of 5 seconds to think of it, imagine how many other situations there could be that are similar in nature. After all, you never know what could happen out on the road with all the idiots out there.

Don't get me wrong, these are the reasons why I feel safer. I am simply adding to the list of pros and cons on this thread to add to the overall conversation. I'm not trying to be black and white about this, you don't have to fully agree, just acknowledge my points. Maybe someone could think of a situation where manual would be potentially safer. Who knows, it really depends on the driver!

 

Still if someone crashes in front of me and I have to panic stop, there's no way I'm downshifting, just braking. Also, there's no way you're even thinking of 1st gear in the situation you describe, 1st gear is only for starting from a dead stop. Also, you say "I don't have time to think about which gear"; a real M/T driver is so used to it that selecting a gear is second nature so that goes back to my comment that accident avoidance depends on the driver and not the type of transmission. There are some situations where M/T might be safer, like when going down hills with many turns; you have less risk of overheating your brakes. Also, if you are on snow on the highway and you see an accident ahead. If you don't have time to down shift than you are stopping equally fast to A/T since both cars have the same brakes. If you do have time to downshift, the engine braking will help you maintain control of your wheels while you slow down in a slippery situation.

Let me try and come up with one: Godzilla is destroying my city and spots my Fit. I have to escape him from a dead stop and since M/T has a 0 to 60 time that is 1/2 a second faster than an A/T I get away

 

This actually happened to me yesterday on the freeway. Big body Bimmer guy texting on his phone two cars ahead didn't realize traffic dead stopped, guy in front of me panic stopped, I actually downshifted to second before putting two pedals in and stopped like 1" from the bumper. In hindsight I should have just put two in and stopped but my brain downshifted automatically

More than 1/2 second 0-60 if it's a base model

 

Was just going to say that if you need to accelerate right away...you'll want the manual.

I see some dudes already said it for me.

 

It's not even about being at a dead start. Rolling down the road if Godzilla/Texty McSwervalot or whoever does something and I need to move, I'm already in the right gear and on it while most TCMs are just starting to wonder what all that increased pressure really means.

 

will use thx

 

True, you never know when he'll strike

Well I'm glad you have better reflexes than I do. But I'm terrible at multitasking and would rather just focus on what I need to do in the situation. Ain't got time to think, just act. Hence, why I feel safer. If you feel fine, great.

Do you mean not overheating your brakes because you can use engine braking? AT does this.. Automatically, just let off the gas and it'll downshift to maintain speed.

on snow, VSA and abs will help maintain control in much the same way.

Let's not forget that AT fits also have 1 2 and 3 and sports have paddle shifters. So if I Really needed to be in a certain gear for whatever reason, I could just use that. Although I have not yet run into a situation where I've needed to do this.

I still like the idea that I can keep my hands on the wheels at all times. This is big for me, even if it's not for you.

But you are right that it is down to the driver, and this driver feels more secure in an auto

 

Absolutely. The only issue is that rear facing infant seats take up a lot of room, so the front passenger seat is uncomfortable. However, with forward facing seats, the problem is solved and the passenger side has the 40% fold down, so you can still use the bigger portion of the magic seat, if needed (great for longer trips).

 

I'm new here but you guys shouldn't overly worry about the safety of these cars. I'm a full time city fireman it's what I've done for 8 years now. To give you idea of how many calls we run it's about 27,000 calls a year. I've seen serval wrecks with these smaller cars over the years. New fiats , civics, fits, SUVs and trucks. There are so many facts and situations to be weighted when one ask about the safety of the fit or any car. Many already talked about. These types of cars do well, all things considered. You d be surprised at what people can walk away from. Many people that are in wrecks are transferred to ER on a backboard and collar as a precaution. And these are wrecks that the average person sees and thinks it was "bad". Some of the worst wrecks I've seen are side impacts or "Tbones" or accidents where people lose control and slide sideways and hit something ie tree or pole. It's because there isn't as much crumple zones there and we are so close to that side. Side airbags help and front airbags help a lot too. And wear your seat belts and strap your kids in theirs. I've seen too many people get ejected from cars and died who would have been fine. It's sad and crazy what people do on the road, Texting/cell phones and drugs/alcohol are the worst. I believe we ourselves can make the biggest difference by not texting. (Deep breath) but seriously all that being said and it may be dramatic but I deal with death a lot with my job naturally and please don't think I'm trying to impress anybody but if it's your time go I believe it's out of our hands.

 

Car is pretty safe in general. This is a tertiary vehicle in our fleet and we don't use it on long trip unless the Ody is out for service or repair. Mainly the car is there for city driving and get good gas mileage.