conversation: User (mmmonkeys): "I currently drive a 2013 toyota Prius, it still runs great and has been driven very gently at 56K miles. I have a significant other but no kids. My Commute to work is super short like 3-4 miles, but do do a fair amount of freeway driving on the weekends. My prius doesn't have all these new safety features that have recently rolled out (adaptive cruise control, Lane keep assist, collision mitigation etc).\n\nI live in Southern California and unfortunately see reckless drivers almost every single day I'm on the road (Distracted driving, weaving through the highway traffic at 90 mph, people running red lights and stop signs), and have had some very close near misses over the years, which had me thinking a lot about safety. Recently had been reading statistics that show that SUV's are multiple fold better at keeping their occupants safe in car collisions than lighter weight cars.\n\nIs it reasonable to upgrade to a new midsize SUV just for safety reasons? (looking at a 2018 toyota highlander, 2019 honda pilot, possibly 2019 subaru Ascent), or a used luxury SUV. \n\nI am easily able to afford buying a new car, but not so well off for it to be an inconsequential purchase. The safety minded part of me tells me to get the car, with safety first, but the financially conservative part of me keeps thinking about how much that 30-34K could be worth in 30 years invested.  \n\nI realize this probably is a personal decision, but I'm curious what my fellow redditors would do if they were in my shoes.\n\nEDIT: I wanted to clarify that the Size (SUV vs sedan) was the main factor to change from a prius to a SUV, not so much the saftey features, which are just an added plus, this is based on the IIHS research that basically says you are much less likely to die in a SUV compared to a sedan: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/vehicle-size-and-weight/qanda"
  Self: "The answer in the pf sub is no. You're in one of the most reliable vehicles out there. For safety, it is sometimes nice to have the bells and whistles but in the end, an accident is an accident. There was this doctor who got killed on the highway near when a dead tree broke and fell on her car while driving 65mph. Freak accident. \n\nYour commute is short. LA freeway accidents are usually fender bender I assume. \n\nSave your money! If you make a lot of money and buying a $30k is like drop in the bucket, then by all means, upgrade. \n\nThis is coming from a guy who just bought a used $36k luxury SUV with bells and whistles for family hauling and needed the storage space. "
  User (mmmonkeys): "My commute is short, but I do do a decent amount of driving on freeways on the weekend. The nature of traffic (very bad stop and go traffic that can go from 65 to 0 in seconds) and unsafe drivers  where you often have people speeding (70-80 mph) while tailgating and then crashing into suddenly stopped traffic, leading to some pretty catastrophic accidents. I worked in a hospital that served as the level 1 trauma center for one of the busiest freeway areas and we saw crazy stuff almost every other night so my experience might be colored a little differently. This is also the reason I gave up on dreams of driving a motorcycle.  "
  millennialpfguy (millennialpfguy): "So unless **you’re the bad driver** that’s rear ending people, none of the latest safety features are going to keep the distracted driver from rear ending you doing 80. Go take a defensive driving course and keep the Prius. "
  