2008 smart fortwo pure, Safety Issues??

Question

I think this car was a very clever Idea. And Im thinking about buying it.But what happens if you get into an accident? Do you think that you would be safer in a regular 4 door car? I mean what would happen if a semi hit you?

Answer 1

I have two of my customers that bought these cars and yes they are rated very safe, you dont feel safe driving them.

The steering and the lower vehicle stance will be something that you will need to overcome and just for me test driving them I felt very uncomfortable at all times.

People are always looking at you while you are driving and that can be a problem as well because I felt that they just might hit or run over you.

In my opinion this is a very unsafe car for today's roads..

Answer 2

I've seen footage on Youtube I think of Smarts getting wrecked/crash tested. The car actually does extremely well, considering how small it its. The Smart fortwo has a shell they call the "tridion safety cell". Think of it as a full body roll cage. Quite frankly I think (never drove one so I don't know) I would feel fairly safe in the Smart.

If safety is a major issue for you, you can't beat a Volvo 240 sedan, but this car doesn't get the greatest gas mileage around...about 24 highway if you have a free flow exhaust system. I had one for 6 years (mine was an '85 model) and always felt safe in that car. I felt safer in that car than I do in my Corolla. ..and the Corolla has an airbag.

Answer 3

Of course you would be safer in a 4-door. Any design is a compromise. The question is, how far are you willing to go for safety? or economy? The two are somewhat mutually exclusive. You would feel real safe in an Abrams Tank but only get 3 mpg. How often do you get into a wreck? I've been driving for over 4 decades and never been in a serious wreck. My father drove little cars his whole life and wrecked most of them. He was never seriously hurt, though.

Answer 4

The Smart ForTwo has been an easy target for safety issues since it debut in the US. I think it is just a sign of a lack of understanding for something that's new. Human beings tend to be rather defensive when introduced to new products or concepts. Same goes with electric cars and hydrogen cars.

A while back the hydrogen cars were criticized for being unsafe because of the irrelevant link to the Hindenburg. H2 didn't blow up that airship. The fabric that contains the H2 was flammable. H2 simply "assisted" in the burning process. With that in mind, when we drive a gasoline car, we are sitting on a 15gal tank of gas every day. Is it not safe then? What about battery cells? Or that electric motor in a hybrid?

Fact of the matter is there are small cars driven daily all over the world, especially in Europe and Asia. Yet you don't read about the media bashing small cars.

If it's about a semi hitting a ForTwo, then ask the same question if you ride a motorbike on the highway. What amazes me is some of the ForTwo nay-sayers would rather ride a 2-wheeler. Perhaps a contradiction of logic here?