Luxury vehicle repairs sky high 

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has released a report that damage to luxury vehicles involved in low-speed crashes (3 to 6 miles per hour) can cost upward to $14,000 in repairs.  Wow!   

These bumper-thumpers typically occur in commuter traffic or in parking lots. The IIHS found that many of the luxury car bumpers are “flimsy” (an understatement, I think) and “fail to absorb the energy in a crash” (obviously). The IIHS conducted a series of four low-speed crashes on 11 different 2007 luxury vehicles. 

The insurance cost and rate implications are clear.  

A couple of reflections: (1) Where are our esteemed auto makers when it comes to engineering crash-absorbent and sturdy bumpers? (2) I didn’t realize a car could go as slow as 3 to 6 miles per hour these days!  (3) Just think what the cost of damage must be when a vehicle bangs into the back of another at the low residential area limits of 15 and 25 mph.