[Merged] Shocker: Small Cars Don't Protect as Well in Collisions

[AGR-1]

Date posted: 04-13-2009

ARLINGTON, Virginia — Turns out your parents were right after all: Big cars really do protect you better in a collision than small cars. Or so says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which tested pairs of large and small cars from three manufacturers — Daimler, Honda and Toyota.

The IIHS performed car-to-car crash tests between the 2009 Toyota Camry and Yaris, the 2009 Honda Accord and Fit and the 2009 Mercedes-Benz C300 and Smart Fortwo. While all vehicles performed relatively well in the institute's frontal offset barrier test, all three small cars received poor ratings in the crash tests with midsize cars.

"There are good reasons people buy minicars," said IIHS President Adrian Lund. "They're more affordable, and they use less gas. But the safety tradeoffs are clear from our new tests. Equally clear are the implications when it comes to fuel economy. If automakers downsize cars so their fleets use less fuel, occupant safety will be compromised."

As it does in the frontal barrier tests, the IIHS rated performance in the 40-mph car-to-car tests based on measured intrusion into the occupant compartment, as well as forces recorded on the driver dummy and movement of the dummy during the impact. According to the test results, the likelihood of injury goes up in the smaller vehicle.

"Though much safer than they were a few years ago, minicars as a group do a comparatively poor job of protecting people in crashes, simply because they're smaller and lighter," Lund said.

Inside Line says: Sometimes the conventional wisdom turns out to be correct. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent

Link to article and photos....Click

[SkiD]

Lots of people don't realize that a '5 star' rating for a subcompact is not the same as a '5 star' rating for a midsize car, the ratings are only comparable for cars of roughly the same weight.

I have had to explain to a few people that Smart cars are not very safe because they don't have very much deformable body panels to absorb impacts. That fancy safety cage technology they promote just transfers that energy directly to the passengers (a helmet may stop you from cracking your skull, but doesn't stop momentum from letting your brain from hit your skull).

[Dina_E]

ofcourse you cant bend physics, but majority of people who tend to buy these small cars like the fit or smart tend to live in the city, where they would never go fast enough and collisions tend to be minor fender benders.

[ES_Revenge]

What's not a shocker is that cars like these (Yaris, Fit, Smart, etc.) blow and fail at being cars to begin with. Being less safe is just another reason not to buy these super econo[crap]boxes. I would have avoided them way before looking at the safety data though. They had me running away at hello.

[achanna]

Honestly is it really a shocker ???

[Jon Lai]

What's not a shocker is that cars like these (Yaris, Fit, Smart, etc.) blow and fail at being cars to begin with. Being less safe is just another reason not to buy these super econo[crap]boxes. I would have avoided them way before looking at the safety data though. They had me running away at hello.

Thanks for bringing our gas prices and CO2 emissions up then, brother.

[golden]

I would never buy those tiny cars. Just look at those thin doors. In order to be fuel efficent, all of these cars use tiny engines and they must be light in order for the tiny engine to pull. I'm not compromising the safety by saving a few $ on gas and the purchase price. I think at the very least, get a Civic/Mazda3/Corolla size car if you want fuel efficiency.

Smart car was made for tiny parking space and roads in Europe. We don't need that kinda extremes in North America. Whoever bought Smart were all for its special image. I was looking at those smart cars in autoshows. No matter what they say about the safety, I don't believe it'll survive a highway crash.

[Justin]

It's about time a study like this was done. I hate when people think their small, econobox is safe. Put a 5-star econobox up against a 3-star large SUV and the car is going to lose.

[urameatball]

It's about time a study like this was done. I hate when people think their small, econobox is safe. Put a 5-star econobox up against a 3-star large SUV and the car is going to lose.

BOTH, because I just plowed the two of you over in my DUMP TRUCK.

On the plus side, small cars are generally more nimble and more capable of avoiding an accident.

[mjl_toronto]

I was going to post how the quote about minicars doing comparitvely poorer but then saw these details: Crash Test Details.

I wonder why they didn't include the VW Golf or Volvo C30. I'd like to know how those cars would fare comparatively.

[Rehan]

Look at how the Smart car bounces around in the crash at the end of the video!
http://www.iihs.org/video.aspx/releases/pr041409

[woodstock827]

This is why everyone should drive a tank or a Hummer (no not the H2 or H3).

[mohitk]

This is why everyone should drive a tank or a Hummer (no not the H2 or H3).

This is what happens to a H2

[JAC]

This is what happens to a H2

[notanexpert]

This is why everyone should drive a tank or a Hummer (no not the H2 or H3).

+1

Anyone buying anything smaller than a dump truck is really putting their life in danger in the event of a collision. I have a friend who bought a Suburban for her work commute because she felt she needed something reasonably safe. Why would you trade some small CO2 emissions reduction or a few bucks in fuel savings for your life or grave injury? I think these people who buy Suburbans and Expeditions should have their heads examined, their tin-cans would be absolutely demolished in a collision with an 18-wheeler or any other REAL truck! Look at the 401 at any time of day, half the traffic out there is real trucks, the kinds that weigh in at dozens of tonnes.