Here are the safest and most dangerous cars on the road...

I ride motorcycles enough for my Prius to seem comparably safe, so I look at crash data a little differently.

As far as a SMART car?
I figure the name is something of a joke.
They're not especially fuel efficient, they're not especially safe, and they're not especially inexpensive.
They "recommend" you use premium fuel for them, and they have a cargo capacity (for weight, not volume) that's even worse that a Prius....by 300#.
Cargo capacity sux by volume too of course, because somebody left the other half of the car on the factory floor.
It's perhaps the ONLY two-seat, RWD, manual transmission car that's available as a convertible that I would in no way be compelled to own.


The only two advantages that I see with them are ease of parking, and not having to worry about anybody stealing them.

I figure they call them smart cars for the same reason that they call a morbidly obese person "Slim."

 

I know what "yobanny" and "blyatt" mean in Russian, but that's not entirely relevant

 

Making a car safe in a crash is about controlling and reducing the impact forces. Most cars do this with crumple zones that dissipate the force before in reaches the cabin. The smart fortwo doesn't have enough space for a traditional crumple zone, so it diverts the forces around the cabin with the safety cell to the rear structure. In front impact crash tests, you will see the fortwo's rear actually take damage.

As to defending smart cars and owning an SUV, well, the fortwo doesn't have the space for a couple of kids.

The North American model isn't greatly fuel efficient because we only get the biggest, baddest engine available for the fortwo, and neither do we have a manual transmission option, but just the automated manual which reviewers and people complain about because it isn't a true manual or behaves just like a step automatic.

The fortwo first IIHS test didn't get the highest rating because the plastic door popped open. Since everybody should have a seatbelt on, I see that as a minor issue. Keep in mind that half of all crashes involve just one vehicle. In those cases, being lighter and smaller mean less initial crash energy to begin with. Yes, there are bigger things on the road, and things on them bigger still than a H2. Eventually someone will die while riding in a Tesla S. Travelling by car isn't a risk free endeavour.

The fortwo can be had for cheaper than the iQ. The base trim is one of the cheapest cars you can now buy if you don't need a radio
. You just can get a Spark, and maybe the Mirage, for about the same price with 4 doors, rear seats for adults, and more standard features. Which is probably why they are outselling the fortwo and iQ.

The EV range isn't the greatest, but is long enough that with its size, the smart ED has potential for a city commuter. Our local Dominos has one for deliveries.

 

LOL, if you lived in places like Paris or Rome, that is the only thing that counts and it's smart.

good for you then. Idti yebat sebya.

 

I saw large numbers of them in Rome, parked two per parking space. And even those parking spaces were very compact by American standards.

 

a few years back we drove around Italy in rental Punto. When we got to Rome we mostly opted for public transportation. Though we saw someone through a finger up once, things've come down alot comparing to what they used to be many years ago. No automatic honking, screaming and drivers actually giving a few seconds as a benefit of doubt to each other.

Then I've looked at parking ticket at windshield (130eur) and understood that using public transportation was the best move. What we've lost on public transportation wouldn't compare to time you'd have to spend looking for parking spot. People driving 3 abreast on single lane road while checking e-mails and putting makeup do not scare me any more.

I've driven in half dozen countries, main US metropolitan areas, carribians but nothing prepares you to what you see in Rome.

 

In San Francisco there was a rash of cow tipping Smart cars.
Kind of a dirty prank as the car is totaled once it hits the roof.

 

Tideland Prius(I think that was the poster here), had a smart fortwo. Some 'jokers' in his apartment thought it would be funny to pick up his car, and move it to a different spot. well, there were these cameras see...