A while back I asked my uncle (who has owned/ran his own body shop for the last 20yrs) what the safest car on the road was.
He said that he believed the Olds Aurora was the safest car. He said that it's extremely overbuilt and the structure is similar to a stock car (went into details but I can't remember).
Also, he said that the PT Cruiser was one of the most dangerous cars to be driving if you ever get in a side impact. There's no side impact beams in the doors, it's just the skin. He actually called Crysler when he first got one in the shop because he thought they messed it up in production and forgot side impact beams. They confirmed that they put no side impact protection in the doors. He informed the owners of the safety deficiency, and they promptly sold it.
As for Volvo, he said that it's just marketing gimmick. Their structure is no different than most other cars on the road.
BTW, glad to your your m-i-l is OK.
