Either I don’t get out much or we operate a bit behind the curve down here in Margaritaville, [or both] but I saw my first Smart car Friday.
Looks like someone threw a plastic lid over a go kart. There was no room for anyone other than the driver in the thing and his back was so close to the rear hatch I held my breath for him, knowing at any moment someone was going to come along and give him the enema of his life.
I’d rather ride a motorcycle. On I95.
People in cars and trucks will treat this thing like just another vehicle on the road, which equals no respect or even derisive hand gestures… or maybe that’s just me… And pardon me for thinking so, but the foolhardy souls, pioneers if you will, that buy and drive the smart, deserve no more respect than the folks in other, larger vehicles… Most motorcycles are at least easier to hear when in the vicinity and are usually afforded a modicum of extra attention. Yeah, I know… every vehicle on the road should be treated equally – but in the real world that just doesn’t happen.
The IIHS gives it good marks on safety… but is that in its class or overall? If two Smarts collide, do they bounce off each other while fairy dust settles over the landscape to protect everyone involved? What if an SUV accidentally touches one?
Europe is lousy with itsy bitsy automobiles and manufacturers like Toyota and Audi are thinking about selling them here in the U.S. now that the market has been penetrated.
I don’t think that’s a good idea, but then again I could be hopelessly clinging to my guns, religion and SUV.
I would go as small as a Mini Cooper… but be reticent to leave city streets with it… Would you drive a Smart? And where? The golf course?
September 6th, 2009 at 11:21 am
They’re so cute!
Beyond that, I really think it should be confined to neighborhood driving. Like a covered moped. Can you imagine what that thing would look like after an accident? Probably like a big giant piece of tin foil.
I might drive it to the local grocery store 2 1/2 minutes away but I definitely wouldn’t leave town with it or drive on roads wider than 2 lanes with a speed limit higher than like 35.
ROFL on the enema thing…
September 6th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
“…giant piece of tin foil.”
Exactly what I was thinking!
September 6th, 2009 at 11:35 am
if my life was confined to quiet small town traffic, no road trips, furthest thing from me being maybe 5-7 miles, and never had to carry kids or “stuff” – if my life were that slow paced, yes – i’d drive one. in fact i’ve actually ridden in the back sit of my cousin’s smart car in vienna – um, if you want to call that a back seat – it is pretty much like the jump seat in the back of a small toyota pickup. rather ride in that than on a bike, cause i’m lazy like that.
safe? good lord no, give me a break. jeeps win – as my kids say.
but that is not my life, nor is it the life of 99.9% of american driver (i have no facts to back up that percentage – hyperbole on my part)
September 6th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
…there’s a back seat? Holy moly! And as for carrying anything… pffttt….!
September 6th, 2009 at 11:38 am
I did a post on the Smart car when it first hit the U.S.
The crash tests are posted on the web also, which I posted either the link or the actual video on the post I did.
First time I saw the crash test it literally scared the freaking hell out of me.
The 35 mph frontal crash test nearly made the car flip over, it came off the ground by a couple feet and the drivers door came off in the crash.
Normal vehicles have a safety cage that the passenger compartment is built in, it’s that safety cage that absorbs the forces from the crash and keeps the passengers relatively safe. The Smart car does not have a safety cage and goes on the premises that the airbag will absorb the forces of the crash. An airbag will not absorb that much of the crash forces to keep a person safe, or even mostly safe. A person in a 35 mph frontal crash in a Smart car will have major injuries and a great possiblity of death.
In a crash with another vehicle the Smart car could roll over onto the other car causing more serious injuries because it is so light. That crash video really put the fear of god into me and I avoid any Smart cars I see on the road.
I use to work in Ford Restraints (airbags/seatbelts) department and saw plenty of crash data and seen quite a few crash tests and outcomes of injuries. I know what happens in car vs car, small vs large car, car vs truck, truck vs truck, etc and it is quite scary.
Could you imagine what a Smart car vs Semi truck would look like? That would scar people for life if they witnessed it.
September 6th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Smart vs Semi would be absolutely devastating to the Smart, no question. And the people who drive them on freeways… how do they keep from being sucked into the wind stream of semis?
September 8th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Shit, and I thought Lovebugs were hard to clean off my bumper!
September 8th, 2009 at 9:55 am
September 6th, 2009 at 11:41 am
it would look like a crush coke can, yes it would
September 6th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Here is a link for the Insurance Institues crash tests, they are not the ones that I saw, but listen to what the speaker is saying.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/safety-recalls/carcrashtest/crashtestvideo.htm
They give it a good rating for front and side crash because the passenger area didn’t crumple beyond a certain amount but the injuries sustained could be life threating (his head hits the steering wheel though the airbag). Sounds like they only rate the vehicle on crumple zones and not what injuries could be sustained.
September 6th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Thanks, QW! Excellent link… and though they give it a ‘good’, look at the TEST! Holy crap!!
September 6th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Drive an oversized golf cart on the interstate? What part of HELL FUCKING NO! doesn’t make sense?
On the bright side, clean up from accidents would be a lot easier with these cars. All that would be needed is to hose them (and unfortunate occupants) off the road into the nearest storm drain, and traffic is moving again.
September 6th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Ewww… but accurate!
September 6th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Originally this was touted as being a Smart Car. It has since been revised to indicate some kind of mini VW. Tiny car vs large truck.
WARNING VERY GRAPHIC!
http://www.snopes.com/photos/gruesome/cellphone.asp
September 6th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
wow, if that don’t cure the problem don’t know what will.
September 6th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Holy shit… that totally goes beyond graphic into the wash your brain out with clorox zone!
September 6th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Keep in mind that most fatal accidents are within 25 miles of home- exactly where these were built to drive – if that was the Smart car in that accident, all you would see is a pile of trash at impact location, plus small unrealizable things scattered everywhere – I have seen accidents as bad as that here in South Florida with full sized and motorcycles – I have found no pulse more times then I want to remember – Personaly I am not sure I could climb into it just to get out of the rain without feeling uneasy.
September 6th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
That gave me chills!
September 6th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
It’s a giant piece of something alright…but it ain’t tin foil.
September 7th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Heh…
September 7th, 2009 at 3:46 am
What Dave said.
No way would I put my family in one of these. (Not that more than any two of us at a time could be in one…)
September 7th, 2009 at 9:19 am
…and that’s the operative phrase.
I can see younger, single people driving these, but once you marry, have kids you want the safest thing that you can possibly afford to transport them in – it’s important!
Plus, there’s no back seat in these things that could accommodate a baby seat, anyway.
September 7th, 2009 at 6:21 am
Sorta of like new shots… I’ll let everyone else try it out first… at least the first 5 million… then I’ll consider it. Around here we have too many hummers and the like. You’d get squished.
September 7th, 2009 at 9:21 am
If there were nothing but cars this size on the road I might consider it… though there’s not even room for groceries; we’d have to make three trips!
September 7th, 2009 at 8:48 am
I wonder how many Greenies are willing to sacrifice themselves in “Smart” cars for the cause?
Calling the Darwin awards…
September 7th, 2009 at 9:23 am
You’d be surprised. The hard cores are a passionate lot and actually believe everything that comes out of Gore’s mouth.
September 7th, 2009 at 9:33 am
I would also like to point out that safety crash tests simulate like size cars hitting each other, so the Smart car crash video link above is simulating a Smart car hitting a Smart car.
So that good rating they are getting is for only being hit by a similar size/weight car.
September 7th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Thanks for the clarification! I often wondered if it were so and that does make sense… though gives us little real safety information, eh?
September 7th, 2009 at 11:11 am
the car is too small yes- but the people are buying it not for a fun drive- -for the fuel economy -In Europe , they started to drive those cars years ago
September 7th, 2009 at 11:13 am
and if we gonna talk about safety- bigger cars are much safer, so its nothing much to compare
September 7th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Have you seen some of the roads in Europe and the UK? Only a vehicle the size of a Smart car could fit on them.
Aside from the obvious lack of safety (but we’re saving the earth!) these things would never handle snow deeper than a couple of inches. That’s a big deal breaker for us Alaskans and I’m sure any other state where they have significant snowfall. I can’t afford a vehicle that can be used only in good weather.
September 7th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Oh, crap… I didn’t even think about snow!
September 7th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
A liberal guy and a liberal gal buy a smart car…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz2eCFoafXk&feature=related
gotta watch the whole thing…
September 7th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I admit I laughed like a hyena when the car pancaked…! Whoever made the vid messed up Paul Shanklin’s song, though.
September 7th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
yeah, it drags a bit – but the point is made
September 7th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Aw Hell, it’d take two or three trips just to haul Linda Lou’s butt.
September 8th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Arthur and I were talking about it yesterday and if it’s anything like the Suzuki Samurai I wouldn’t fit! I remember going to test drive one and my long legs just did not fit in that thing!
September 8th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
When we were buying the asexual grandparent mobile (thanks, Bou) we bought it where my wife’s nephew was the service manager, we told him the budget and we drove one of everything that fit in under it. One of the cars we tried was a Jeep Liberty, we literally could not both fit in the front seats, and they were bucket seats. We kept bumping each other and rubbing shoulders like lovesick teenagers in a ‘56 Chevy. I don’t even want to think about a Notsosmart car.
September 8th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
I thought the Liberty was Wrangler size! I fit in those… but there’s not much room for anything else…!
September 8th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
In a big city, where parking is at a minimum and speeds don’t get above 30 or so…yeah. This is fine.
For my kind of rural-to-city driving…no. fucking. way. EVER!. I’m not stupid enough to think that getting my greenie-weenie off that way will impress the laws of physics enough to keep an accident from happening to me.
September 8th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Very logical thinking…
September 9th, 2009 at 9:53 am
We have several of these in Nashua. I cannot imagine walking away from a simple fender bender.
September 9th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Me, either!
September 9th, 2009 at 10:32 am
When I see them (while they’re cute as all get out), I think “pregnant roller skate” and there’s no way I’d drive one. Heck, I’d have to tow one behind me for the dogs to sit in!
Makes me want to find a giant key to rotate around as you drive it. Just seems appropriate somehow.
September 9th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Love the key!
September 19th, 2009 at 7:36 am
The “Smart Car” is the “Idoit Car” what person in their right mind would buy s car that for one weights less then a horse. I would take the horse over the smart car, and second on a rainey or wet day get hit in a smart car and ping ponged down the road. No thank you I will keep my old and loud S10 Blaser, atleast my family will be safe in a vehical that has a few tons of metal in it.
September 19th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
I just wish I had my old 1989 S10 Blazer! What a great vehicle!