So you want to buy a Smart Car?

[oldcarnut]

Got these in an email.  Everytime I've seen them in crashes it's not been good.  I'll take a few miles less per gal. in a bigger heavier car.  

In the email:
"Below is a photo of a wreck in Jefferson Parish, LA (near New Orleans ) between two trucks and a Smart Car. Think I'll pass on the Smart Car."   Before and after.

[Ghoste]

Yeah just looking at them without seeing crash pics and thinking about an accident gives me the creeps.

[Todd Wilson]

Thats a wild picture. Theres a lady that shows up at our friday night car show with one. She tells everyone how safe they are. They have a special cage built in the body for protection. We all just shake our heads and say "ok".  HEHE!    They'd be ok if thats all that was on the road.


Todd

[Silver R/T]

"special cage" didn't help above vehicle. It would have to be full NHRA steel cage in one to be even considering driving it on the streets

[Mike DC]

       

[aussiemuscle]

i saw that on another site, it's reported as a ford explorer, not a smart. aparently it's 'banana-ed' (ie crushed on one side only). i saw the link on the mythbuster's forum. 

[68X426]

Mike DC - now that response is funny. 

[RD]

yeah.. the wheel in the pic has 5 lugs whereas the smart car has 3.

[aussiemuscle]

here's that link
http://www.snopes.com/photos/accident/smallcar.asp

[oldcarnut]

here's that link
http://www.snopes.com/photos/accident/smallcar.asp

Good info.  Goes to show how things can get sent around and later debunked. I should have checked it out better  .  Either way I have seen some really bad and very graphic photos of real Smart Car wrecks and I guess they're not much worse than some of the other small ones.  As crazy as it sounds, I feel a little better about riding my cycle than getting crushed inside one of those.

[1969chargerrtse]

Got these in an email.  Everytime I've seen them in crashes it's not been good.  I'll take a few miles less per gal. in a bigger heavier car.   


"Below is a photo of a wreck in Jefferson Parish, LA (near New Orleans ) between two trucks and a Smart Car. Think I'll pass on the Smart Car."   Before and after.

That ain't gonna buff out.  Not to be picky but the rims are different on the before and aft. 

[Mike DC]

Mike DC - now that response is funny.

Hehe . . . thanks.  Smokey & Craig are underrated sources of wisdom.


   ------------------------------------------------


I'd hate to pick a fight with a Hummer or a Diesel pickup while driving a Smart.  That wouldn't be pretty.  

But I gotta give the designers props for doing so much with the basic dimensions they had to work with.  They clearly realized that the public's gut reaction to the car would be "deathtrap."  They seem to have built that thing about as well as they feasibly could have.

[dodgecharger-fan]

When I see crash pictures like that with references to the SMART car, the first thing I ask myself is, "What car would I want to be in when that happens to me." My answer is almost always, "I don't think it really matters."
Sure, I'd be safer in a big commercial truck or a tank, but those are not really practical for my purposes.

I'm not taking a side on the safety of the Smart car - I don't think I'd feel too comfortable driving in traffic in one.

It's the extremity of the arguments against the safety of them that I think is getting ridiculous. It seems that it's always a car cut in half or squished into a cube. A "normal" car wouldn't fair much better in most of the same cases - at some point, the car, no matter what it is is totalled and/or the driver and passengers are just as injured (or worse).

Where are all the stories of the less critical accidents in Smart cars - ya know, the average car accident - where they come away in relatively the same shape as any other car, repaired and driven again?

That said, how many people would scoff at the Smart car and then get on a motorcycle and drive away? I'm not saying that is the case or knocking riders at all. However, there are a lot of motorcycles on the road and you don't see the derision against them as you do the Smart car and you'd be hard pressed to argue that a motorcycle is going to provide better protection than a Smart in any kind of an accident. (Take the "smarter, safer rider" out of the equation. I'm not knocking riders. Accidents still happen with motorcycles. My point is how much protection the vehicle provides.)

..and I'm not passing judgement on the story/poster/or any replies, just stating my point of view

I will say that I'd probably have no problem driving one if I had to or just for fun. I wouldn't feel comfortable in heavy traffic, though. Would I buy one? Not very likely but it's not for safety reasons. Personal preference, comfort, practicality, many other reasons.

[Ghoste]

Whether the photo is wrongly tagged or not I still do NOT want to be in an accident in one of those things.

[dodgecharger-fan]

Would you want to be in the passenger seat of that Explorer, then? Of course not.

That's kind of my point. Smart car , Explorer, or Hummer. It's not the car that you're in, it's the accident that you are involved in that really matters.

[Ghoste]

That's an extreme example though.  Obviously I wouldn't want to be in any accident (again, I've had more than my share in the past and two I can think of should have resulted in permanent or fatal injury-they aren't fun).  But if you made me pick between the two, I'll take the explorer over the golf cart with air conditioning.
I agree that it's the accident you're in but I can't help but wonder what a "Smart" car would look like after the same incident?

[oldcarnut]

Ok a couple good words for the car so the other side is given.  Maybe it's not as bad as the email I got was trying to slant it.  Just thought it was an interesting crash picture.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/14/autos/smart_fortwo_iihs_crash_test/index.htm
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/smart-car-crash-tested/

[tan top]

intresting  !! 

[Silver R/T]

wouldn't want to look like a sardine

[Landonsrt]

When you've got two big 25000 lb + vehicles and your in the middle. Your gonna lose no matter what your driving!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clhIce8hteY


As seen here.

[69bronzeT5]

Who cares how safe the Smart Car is or isn't....I wouldn't drive one anyways, there butt-ass ugly!

[bull]

Would you want to be in the passenger seat of that Explorer, then? Of course not.

That's kind of my point. Smart car , Explorer, or Hummer. It's not the car that you're in, it's the accident that you are involved in that really matters.

It's part of what matters but not all that matters. One big factor that makes larger cars better in a crash is the amount of sheet metal and air between you and the point of impact. In a Dumb car you're only a few feet from the collision and that means you're bouncing. The car might not collapse but you can be quite sure your head and just about every other body part is going to be bouncing off everything inside that car. You'll feel like a hamster inside his exercise ball with ten kids kicking you around the soccer field. Better yet, crawl inside a dryer and have someone put a bunch of broken glass and bricks in there with you for a five minute cycle. That's probably about what a crash in a Dumb car feels like.

The friggin' things only average about 38 mpg anyway. If I'm going to look like a homo driving a car I had better be getting way better than 38 mpg. I'd take a TDI Jetta or Passat any day over a Dumb car or a Toyota Pious.

[l8rg8r]

 go have a look at this smart car ftp://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV4HdsDZX6c