Posted on 04/14/2009 10:12:57 AM PDT by theruleshavechanged
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
This IS a surprise!
And it’s really bad because you have to strap the carseats to the roof.
I remember getting into argument with some liberal on the now defunct Yahoo boards about the ForTwo. He was telling me how safe it was based on certain crash test data. I simply said, “Ok you’re about to get T-boned by a semi, what car would you rather be in, a ForTwo or a Ford Expedition?”
End of argument.
We watched those crash tests on FOX. The Smart Car looked like it exploded. There was nothing left buy pieces.
I was thinking the other day, when I saw one of these golf carts in our COSTCO parking lot, with Canadian plates, that the driver was really foolish to get on the freeway in that thing.
dog bites man
It CAN’T be true! It can’t be true!
Actually, the Smart Car kinda flew a ways after the collision. It sorta stayed together, though.
The Yaris, on the other hand, pretty much disintegrated.
I saw a smart car in town the other day. I wouldn’t drive that little death trap on a golf course!
I love those little Cooper Minis, but I live in NoVa and drive the Beltway. I would be dead in a matter of seconds if I gave into my Mini craving.
One learns in HS General Science that the smaller cars are less safe.
The real value of the crash-trest data is to compare results within a category of vehicle.
After watching some of this on FoxNews this morning anyone driving one of these has to have a deathwish! They were only crashing them into mid size cars. These things would trun into balls of tinfoil if hit by a semi!
“Small cars get poor marks in collision tests’
Physics validated!
Oh, I guess I wasn’t paying enough attention. I only saw one car and read smart car. Thanks.
The Yaris and other junk including the Smart car do not even get very good mileage. The Ford Fusion gets about 24/34 mpg and the Yaris is only slightly better and not much cheaper.
The Fusion had a case where two young people had a head on with an Ford F-150 pickup. The kids in the Fusion survived with only minor scrapes. They probably had their seat belts on and the Fusion has front and side airbags. The guy in the F-150 pickup died. He may not have had his seatbelt on.
It took a few minutes to cut the kids out because the roof pillars on the Fusion are so strong. The Fire Dept saw blades had to be changed.
You can get those in any vehicle, but I'll take my chances in a '61 Checker, thank you! :)
“It took guts to make that impact” boasted the bug
“Bet you don’t have the guts to do it again” laconically replied the windshield
Has “Captain Obvious” been alerted of this important and staggering finding?
Give me an Excursion any day!
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