Are Smartcars safe?

Question

They are so tiny they look like if they get hit it will be instant death for the occupents. Am I wrong? Are they safe?

Answer 1

Yes they are rated very safe but I have driven them and you dont feel that safe...

Answer 2

A car...any car...is only as safe as it's driver. Regardless of any vehicle's crash test results and safety records, it mostly comes down to the driver.

Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead in a Smartcar. I feel they are too small and too lightweight to offer adequate protection in the event of a high velocity crash. I certainly don't want to be the one to find out.

Since a crash some years ago in which I was driving a small car and almost died, I do not drive small vehicles. I have driven trucks since then and I will continue to do so.

I'm more than willing to deal with the higher gas prices in order to have a greater chance of walking away from an accident uninjured...or even alive. My Explorer has everything I need. In fact, I was recently in a high velocity accident. I walked away from it. My only injury was chest and throat contusions from the airbags and a bruise across my shoulder from the seatbelt. The damage to my Explorer was extensive...but it was all repaired. In that crash, a Smartcar would have been completely destroyed...with me along with it.

No thanks.

EMT

Answer 3

Mercedes did their own tests, running the Smart into full-size Mercedes, and it fared quite well.  There is a cage around the passenger compartment, and the car is designed to reflect impact energy back and away from the passenger area.

Remember, these cars have been on the roads in Canada for a few years, and many more years in Europe.  The safety is proven by the track record, as well as by the government crash tests.

For Bill S, who hasn't been paying attention, I have a few facts.  We have winter in Winnipeg as cold as, or colder than, any state except way in the interior of Alaska.  The Smart cars running around here the past few years have had no more problems dealing with winter than any other cars here.  They have been on the roads in Europe for many years.  Guess what?  They not only have hills in Europe, they have mountains.

If you run into a wall in a Smart car at 40 mph, you will be banged and bruised.  If the next guy hits the same wall, same speed, in a Ford F-150 or Expedition, the driver of the Smart will be calling the ambulance for the driver of the F150, as the Smart has a cage around the passenger compartment, but the F-150 doesn't.  Trucks and truck-based SUVs don't meet, and don't have to meet, passenger car safety standards.

Answer 4

h**l no, they're death traps, they're like riding in a golf cart with doors.  They cost way too much, wouldn't make it up the hills where I live, definitely wouldn't be any good during the winter.  

I would rather have my Jeep and My Toyota Tundra than drive one of those POS cars.

Answer 5

The 2005 model Smart-for-two was given a four star rating in the EuroNCAP crashtest. This will translate into satisfactory/good rating.

The safety for the passengers is given by the Tridion-safetyshell

NHTSA has released the findings of their Smart Fortwo crash tests. The results: In the frontal impact, the Smart scored five stars (a perfect rating) for the driver, but only three stars for the passenger. Side impact was five stars, but there was a caveat: The door came open, which, according to NHTSA, "increases the likelihood of occupant ejection."