Small car crashes vs. mid size cars (SUV, fuel, truck)

[Tennesseestorm]

Just released...

Most new cars pass with flying colors against other cars in their class, but now the IIHS has tested small cars against mid-size cars in their own make. For example, a Toyota Yaris did fine against another small car, but against a larger and heavier Toyota Camry, it failed miserably. Same did with the Smart Car vs. Mercedes C-Class and Honda Fit vs. Honda Accord. Some of these results... tisk, tisk, tisk.

More on this link and video...

turn up your volume and closely watch this 2 minute 30 second minute video....
video:
IIHS-HLDI: Video

general data:
IIHS news release

I wonder what that Smartcar would look like if it hit a car like my 5000 lb '72 Caprice wagon?
WOW.

[Bydand]

Would hate to see what would happen to a Smart Car if it hit my 7200# 3/4 ton Suburban.

[Tennesseestorm]

Originally Posted by Bydand

Would hate to see what would happen to a Smart Car if it hit my 7200# 3/4 ton Suburban.

Oh my... the results would be catastrophic... for the Smart car that is!

Everyone was buzzing about how safe the Smartcar was... well it is against another 2000 lb car, but not a 3000+ pound car obviously.

[Steve_TN]

It just the laws of physics. When buying an "extremely small" or even "small" car it's a risk you have to be willing to take. Those of us who drive SUV's, including myself, have accepted the risk of a higher chance of a rollover, even with ESC, roll stability control etc.

[Asheville Native]

This is just common sense. Do they not teach basic physics in high school any longer, mass, velocity, inertia, the basics?

Tiny car looses against bigger car;
bigger car looses against bigger SUV;
SUV looses against 20,000# truck;
20K truck looses against 80K 18 wheeler;
18 wheeler looses against train locomotive;

What's the mystery, why the surprise?

[texdav]

I saw the video on that and it wasn't just the new smart vehicle. Its funny that they said plainly that it just physics of a lighter vehicle verus a heavier vehicle. But it seems in past test they didn't rely on ths same phyics saying that lighter smaller cars were better than heavier trucks in a crash. Just from what i have seen; I never really believed this was much more than politically correct physics myself..

[Tennesseestorm]

I think its where alot of people think now that even small cars cars are safe even when hitting larger cars just because they receive good ratings in the IIHS test against another in its class and that the automakers still have a way to go in making the passenger cages stronger in these smaller cars. There was a time when the small cars were getting terrible scores, even when hitting another small car. This give the automakers another goal to set I guess.

Here is an example... here is a 1995 Dodge Neon. It looks as bad as the Yaris that hit the larger car. This is the Neon hitting another Neon... imagine if the Neon hit the Mercedes, or a SUV. It didnt even do good hitting another small car.

IIHS-HLDI: Dodge Neon

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

This is just common sense. Do they not teach basic physics in high school any longer, mass, velocity, inertia, the basics?

Tiny car looses against bigger car;
bigger car looses against bigger SUV;
SUV looses against 20,000# truck;
20K truck looses against 80K 18 wheeler;
18 wheeler looses against train locomotive;

What's the mystery, why the surprise?

[Bummer]

Only a couple weeks ago I witnessed a Ford Expedition (driver on Cell Phone) rear-end a Smart Car in very slow stop and go traffic and it was not pretty for the Smart Car. Thankfully, no injuries but I doubt if the speed was above 10 MPH.

I'd rather pay for the extra fuel or walk.

[Tennesseestorm]

Originally Posted by Bummer

Only a couple weeks ago I witnessed a Ford Expedition (driver on Cell Phone) rear-end a Smart Car in very slow stop and go traffic and it was not pretty for the Smart Car. Thankfully, no injuries but I doubt if the speed was above 10 MPH.

I'd rather pay for the extra fuel or walk.

Yeah, I am starting to see alot more of these Smart Cars around here and I didnt realize how small they really were until I saw one in person. Are they sold by Mercedes dealers?

[zoomzoom3]

It would be interesting to see how those mid-size cars hold up in crashes with Hummer H2's.