Safety rules apply to convertibles

Dear Tom and Ray: I have been lusting after a convertible for a number of years and recently found the car of my dreams: a 1994 Saab 900 turbo convertible. It has a driver's-side air bag and anti-lock brakes. However, my know-it-all friend claims that all convertibles are inherently unsafe, even going so far as to say that no convertible would pass today's safety standards. He says they've all been "grandfathered in." I wouldn't be surprised to find that there are safer cars out there, but the claim that convertibles had to be grandfathered in to pass safety standards seems a little implausible to me. What do you say? And should I go for safety or buy the dream car? Susan

Ray: Nah. The stuff about being grandfathered in is bullfeathers. Convertibles do have some inherent safety weaknesses, but they have to pass all current-day safety standards in order to be sold in the United States.

Tom: The problem with convertibles is that they are structurally weaker than sedans because they lack roofs. The roof is a key structural component of a car because it attaches to all four sides of the car and helps keep the car from deforming.

Ray: Because they're missing structural roofs, convertibles all have to be reinforced in other ways down below. And until very recently, that's resulted in them feeling flimsier than normal cars.

Tom: So, you'll notice that convertibles flex more over bumps and, as they get older, tend to rattle and squeak more. And depending upon how this reinforcement is done, they might be somewhat less crashworthy or more crashworthy, depending upon exactly where your car is hit. It's really hard to generalize about all convertibles in this regard. So I think you can safely set aside the structural issue.

Ray: Another safety issue is ejection. Unlike traditional sedans with roofs, there's nothing to hold you inside the car in an accident if you're too dumb to wear your seat belt.

Tom: The problem we can't entirely ignore is rollovers. If a convertible flips over, you're done for. Rollovers are not common in convertibles, because they tend to have fairly low centers of gravity. But rollovers can happen.

Ray: But even given all that, Susan, I'd say go for it. Convertibles are pretty darn safe these days, and they're a helluva lot safer than they were 30 years ago. Being safe doesn't mean you have to drive THE SAFEST car on the road. We have to balance our fears with our wishes and desires, and live a little bit, too.