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Smart Fortwo gets safety stars from NHTSA. Well, except....
Filed under: Opinion, Sedans
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The SmartFortwo micro-car is about to go on sales on these shores. People who have seen photos of the car wonder about safety concerns. Most of the vehicles in the U.S. are a lot larger, and people fear the result of a crash especially with our large sedans, trucks, SUVs, and crossovers.
Despite the size of the car, Daimler AG, maker of the SmartFortwo, was confident that it would pass federal crash tests. Well, it did. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently tested the vehicle and, as a result, gave it four stars for the front crash test for both the driver and passenger and five stars for the side crash test. That is the highest rating the agency gives.
But hold on. During the side crash test the driver’s door opened and NHTSA has cited that as a concern.
Still, the car faired quite well. People may be surprised. But the car did well because of engineering. It features a “safety cell” that diverts the energy of a crash into the frame of the car and around and away from the passenger cockpit. It has been discovered, however, that when struck, it gives in to sluggishness and heads in the opposite direction.
Additional details can be found here. Our take? So it appears that it is not the size of the car in the fight but the size of the fight in the car.
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