Posted on 04/14/2009 5:51:31 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Micro cars can give motorists top-notch fuel efficiency ..., but the insurance industry says they don't fare too well in collisions with larger vehicles.
In crash tests released Tuesday, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that drivers of 2009 versions of the Smart "fortwo," Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris could face significant leg and head injuries in severe front-end crashes with larger, mid-size vehicles.
"There are good reasons people buy mini cars. They're more affordable, and they use less gas. But the safety trade-offs are clear from our new tests," said Adrian Lund, the institute's president.
Automakers who manufacture the small cars said the tests simulated a high-speed crash that rarely happens on the road. They also said the tests rehashed past insurance industry arguments against tougher fuel efficiency requirements. The institute has raised questions about whether stricter gas mileage rules, which are being developed by the government, might lead to smaller, lighter vehicles that could be less safe.
"If you were to take that argument to the nth degree, we should all be driving 18-wheelers. And the trend in society today is just the opposite," said Dave Schembri, president of Smart USA.
Sales of small cars soared when gas prices topped $4 per gallon last year but have fallen off as gasoline has retreated to about $2 a gallon and the economic downturn has slowed car sales. The small cars are affordable -- prices of the three cars tested range from about $12,000 to $18,000 -- and typically achieve 30 miles per gallon or more.
The tests involved head-on crashes between the fortwo and a 2009 Mercedes C Class, the Fit and a 2009 Honda Accord and the Yaris and the 2009 Toyota Camry. The tests were conducted at 40 miles per hour, representing a severe crash.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Well, “duh.”
Thank you, Captain Obvious.
Physics.
It’s the law.
Duhhhh! Yet, parents buy their teens little bitty cars.
It’s a Sherman tank compared to being on a motorcycle or bicycle, or on foot.
Saw these little kiddy-cars splintering to bits after a mild front end collision on TV this morning. Very scary. Who cares about fuel economy when your dead?
Of course, that could be the plan...to cut down on the future drain on Medicare and Social Security.
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I'd rather pay more for gas than spend the remainder of my days in pain and crippled.
I almost crushed a Smart Car with my Honda Civic last week in a parking lot.
My oldest daughter got a 73 Cadi Calais for her first car. She a mommy now and drives a taurus, and looks back with fondness! Hers was brown.
Come late May, we're driving across the country - that's gonna be in the 12 year old Camry, however.
I saw one of those Smart Cars on the highway. It was like a gnat amongst a herd of charging buffalo. An 18 wheeler might roll over it any not even know it.
I am 6’5” and pretty sure that I could never get in to the smart car. I think I could haul a couple around in the back of my F-150, though.
We call it “Drive your coffin”. They can scrape you up and dump you in a hole. All done!
>>>”simulated high speed crashes that rarely happen”
They are going to happen because I have had the (not so) Smart cars fly past me on the freeway. I think “Smart” is a very unfortunate name for these mousetraps.
I passed one of these things on I-696 the other day...it was going about 55 MPH, everyone else on the road was going in excess of 80 MPH....and this is a 4 lane freeway during rush hour. I could have run this damn thing over and never even felt it...have gone through larger potholes than that car...anyway, at 55 MPH it was just looking for an accident...stupid car, stupid driver
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