What is Digg?Sponsored by Travelzoo
Take Advantage of Ridiculously Low Holiday Airfares view!
travelzoo.com - Flights $52 and up for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year. But move on it now.
33 Comments
- RexKwando, on 05/11/2009, -3/+15Not Bad!! I wish more of these were on the road. We would all be a bit safer.
- MarkusX, on 05/12/2009, -1/+10Surprising for anyone?
Maybe for those who don't know, that the Smart Car is manufactured by the Daimler AG, the same company that manufactures Mercedes.
Thus it's not a coincidence that the Smart Car performs well in frontal crashes, where the "crumple zone" (invented 1952 by an engineer at Daimler-Benz) plays such a big factor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumple_zone - mrgeekguy, on 05/12/2009, -0/+9Here's the Institutes review of smaller cars being hit by larger vehicles:
http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr041409.html - DeskFlyer, on 05/12/2009, -2/+10Sure did better than this car:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5SRyG6UR2A - TheEngineer2008, on 05/11/2009, -1/+8Yep. Pretty solid for a little car.
- amabaie, on 05/12/2009, -0/+7I think most people would assume that a small car would fare worse.
- Schmich, on 05/12/2009, -0/+6And if most people had small cars it would be even safer.
- hyderalamgir, on 05/12/2009, -0/+6I'll hazard a guess we've got more crash test videos ready to hit the front page
- AlKo, on 05/12/2009, -0/+5@MrGeekguy
Yup didn't do so well in a crash with a midsize car @ 40mph. There's your 10mph difference...
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/iihs-mid-size-vs-su ...
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/iihs-mid-size-vs-su ...
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/14/iihs-finds-sub- ... - MarkusX, on 05/12/2009, -1/+6I agree, RexKwando, it would be safer, mainly because there wouldn't be as many massive tank-like SUVs on the road that most certainly kill you at the first attempt in a side-impact collision - with any car, maybe except another tank-like SUV.
- latexsolarbeef, on 05/12/2009, -2/+6Seems like a pretty logical conclusion to me; smaller cars offer less protection in a crash than bigger ones. The boxing metaphor was apt, also.
From the vid: "Although the dummy's head did strike the steering wheel, hard, through the air bag, overall we think the Smart car does a good job protecting its occupants in this kind of crash."
This kind of crash? The kind of crash where your face gets smashed into the back of your skull by the steering wheel?! I mean i guess 'overall' your body would be mostly intact and unbroken, but what good are you with a caved-in face? And keep in mind that crash was @ 30mph. Imagine how much harder you'd hit that steering wheel going even 10mph faster. - inactive, on 05/12/2009, -0/+4Wait...small cars fair poorly when smashed with larger cars?
Really? - inactive, on 05/12/2009, -1/+4did you even watch the video?
- KISSOLOGY, on 05/12/2009, -0/+3Sounded like an honest review.
- Quaterni0n, on 05/12/2009, -1/+3conversation?
- mechnoch, on 05/12/2009, -1/+3Aww, the cute little car made a whimper after it crashed!
- civdis24, on 05/12/2009, -0/+2I think by cute you meant ugly
- BoneStamp, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1If you watch the whole video, it clearly says the Prius is safer than the ForTwo even though the ForTwo got a good rating. The ratings are relative to the size of the vehicle, so a full size car with a fair rating could be safer than a compact car with a good rating.
- MaxxusFlamus, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1What they mean is that the face is cushioned enough by the airbag that upon striking the steering wheel, it eliminates said "face smashed into back of skull" injuries. Instead the driver just feels like they they got slapped in the face with a 2x4 and might get a bloody nose.
- inactive, on 05/13/2009, -0/+1whatever douche like you didn't know what I meant despite the typo
- d3matt, on 05/12/2009, -1/+2yes... and their "suv" was going close to 30 mph...
- latexsolarbeef, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1Are you talking about the "Chinese Car Crushed in 40 MPH Crash Test" digg article?
Well, in the video, they used an SUV-sized obstacle to crash into the Smart car (he actually mentions this as well) and his general thought later in the video was along the lines of 'yeah, well obviously being in a bigger vehicle affords you more protection, but the Smart car isn't exactly an empty sardine tin with wheels and an engine.' I was just kinda baffled by the downplay of the head smashing against the steering wheel bit. Saying "overall the protection is good" is quite misleading when the only part of your body that got damaged is your head. Sure "overall" your body is fine but...we can't live without a head. - LinuxCobra, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1How about a crash involving other cars of different sizes just like in real life? There was a study done which showed the smart car didn't have good results when crashing with other cars at different speeds starting at 40MPH.
- Grazzit, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1yes if i got hit by a car and it bounced off me i'd feel much safer walking around
- civdis24, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1And if I may add:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/iihs-mid-size-vs-su ...
Note the caption. - civdis24, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1My opinion is not the same as yours. Therefore, I am an idiot!
They are safe for what they are, yes, surprisingly. However, like the video states, they are not safer than slightly larger, heavier alternatives. I guess you decided to take my attempt at a somewhat comical response as serious and decidedly unfunny. My point is that they are stupid, useless cars. Virtually no one will buy them. For those that do, good for them, they can be safe, but won't be able to use their car for transporting anything more than themselves and a guest. - RexKwando, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1Civdis24
You're an idiot! Who cares if they look less than ideal to you. They are safer. For you, for me, for everybody, they are safer. - inactive, on 05/12/2009, -1/+1conversation of momentum is a bitch for a small car's occupant
- sipsyrup, on 05/12/2009, -1/+1Don't be blinded by their lies!
LIES! - civdis24, on 05/12/2009, -3/+2I completely disagree. Like the guy said in the video, there are safer options. Just because this car rated well in the test, doesn't mean they are as safe as slightly larger and heavier (i.e. normal-sized) cars.
In my awesome opinion, these Smart cars are a nuisance. Not only are they some of the ugliest cars on the road, they are hands down the most impractical. On the verge of uselessness, in fact. They distract other drivers by either causing them to avert their eyes in horror or by drawing attention to their idiotic petite stature. Most importantly, their fuel economy is not impressive enough to warrant the purchase of such an unsightly vehicle. At 33 city, 40 highway, it's not much better than your basic Honda Civic or Corolla. - sockpuppets, on 05/12/2009, -2/+1Not everyone has seen every ***** article on digg, toolio. I appreciated the link.
- KISSOLOGY, on 05/12/2009, -3/+2Thank you for rehashing digg articles from 1 day ago.
- robertisaar, on 05/11/2009, -8/+4i'd like to see what happens when it gets hit by something with a lot of inertia, like a hummer going 50mph...
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is