Is this normal for a smart car?

[Conserv]

Last night I passed a fatal accident involving a smart car.

The smart car was rear ended and then sent flying....

eventually ending up on its side. The driver of the smart car was killed.

http://wgxa.tv/news/local/warner-robins-police-investigating-deadly-two-car-accident

[Bartholomew Roberts]

A record total of nine models sold since the 2011 model-year have had a death rate of zero, meaning no driver was killed in a crash involving those vehicles during the period studied by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. IIHS released a report on the findings Thursday.

•Audi A4 4WD
•Honda Odyssey
•Kia Sorento 2WD
•Lexus RX 350 4WD
•Mercedes-Benz GL-Class 4WD
•Subaru Legacy 4WD
•Toyota Highlander hybrid 4WD
•Toyota Sequioa 4WD
•Volvo XC90 4WD

[ctdonath2]

“If you drive a model car that has never been involved in a fatal accident, let me know the make and model.”

I can’t find any reported fatalities for the DeLorean, though much doubt is expressed about its safety.

[Nailbiter]

ping

[farming pharmer]

The short wheel base makes them very twitchy. Great for slow tight turns but as the speed increases they become increasingly unstable.

I agree. My 2002 Jeep Wrangler is very squirrley when sliding around corners because of the short wheel base. It snaps back the other way very quickly almost causing loss of control.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

All the Asian people I know joke about it.

[hecticskeptic]

It’s the pace of velocity change...in a collision all the energy is transferred to the low mass vehicle, which will then change velocity very quickly - much quicker than a larger car.

This principle was demonstrated quite nicely last night on Daily Planet with the drop of three stacked balls… a basketball, a volleyball and a tennis ball. The video isn’t posted yet but here is a similar experiment by some kids who just used a basketball and a tennis ball for the experiment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD1zlq0Rg98

[PLMerite]

Still faster than a ford:

[ExSES]

It doesn't take a genius to determine that a large animal/human/auto will really smash a smaller one! One does not need to have taken a physics class to understand this fact!

[ZOOKER]

Worst situation I can think of: rear-ended in a smart car.

Not mentioned as yet in all these posts - although lack of crumple zones was mentioned - lack of back seat and a trunk area about the size of a bag of groceries. That puts the car's back bumper only inches away from the driver's spine.

So you got a heavy impact from the rear pushing the driver's seat forward into deploying air bags. Bet they had trouble getting her out of the car (that's another clue, dead at the scene).

[Arlis]

Clearly you don’t ride motorcycles.

You cannot maneuver any bike as quickly as you can a 4-wheel car.

I’ve been riding 53 years, every kind of bike known almost, and you just cannot maneuver a bike as quickly = especially at speed.

AND once you swerve in one direction, it takes even longer to correct that direction and swerve back.

BTW, I own 7 bikes......and have 12 in my garage - kids, nephews, etc.

[Arlis]

“The first time I saw a Smart car was in Barcelona in 2002...”

You’ve got to be kidding me!!!! That’s WHEN and WHERE I saw my first one too!!!!

[Arlis]

“The first time I saw a Smart car was in Barcelona in 2002...”

You’ve got to be kidding me!!!! That’s WHEN and WHERE I saw my first one too!!!!

[Two Kids' Dad]

Whoever has the most lug nuts wins.

[HotHunt]

The only thing smart about driving a Smart car, is that it is not a “smart” move to do so if you value your life.

[DugwayDuke]

There was a movement about 15 years ago claiming that driving a large car was discrimination against those in smaller cars since those in the smaller cars had a greater risk of injury. IOW, the way to avoid the risk of greater injury in smaller cars was to make all cars smaller.

[Two Kids' Dad]

I love your attitude and your list. Down here in SoCal I’d have to add Subaru drivers to the list. Nothing against the cars themselves, but every single Subaru driver has a hippy bumper sticker and drives slower than the average prius.

[Cincinnatus.45-70]

“The principle is called the conservation of energy. When the kinetic energy of the heavier object is translated to the lighter (smaller) object it accelerates to a high velocity.”

Being an old guy, I played marbles at recess in grade school. There was a reason your “shooter” was at least twice the size of the marbles you were trying to knock out of the ring. ;)

[Cincinnatus.45-70]

“The principle is called the conservation of energy. When the kinetic energy of the heavier object is translated to the lighter (smaller) object it accelerates to a high velocity.”

Being an old guy, I played marbles at recess in grade school. There was a reason your “shooter” was at least twice the size of the marbles you were trying to knock out of the ring. ;)

[Vaquero]

I was in the motorcycle repair business for most of the decade of the 70s. I found them to be eminently handleable. The trick is to NOT be a defensive driver. You must be an offensive driver (in any definition of the word you care to think of). You can not drive along by hoping your not going to get rear ended. Your job is to get ahead and off the road itself, if you get the feeling that someone is busy worrying about things beside what’s going on, on the road.
I was alway ON when I road. Especially here on Long Island where it’s nuts. The here are no second place winners while riding a bike.

I sold my last bike after I was cruising along on a nice day enjoying the ride, not looking for trouble when an older lady decided a U turn in front of me was in the cards. I did not get hurt. The bike was fixable....it needed fork tubes. If I had been ‘playing at speed’ I would have been a stain on the hiway.

I’ve thought of riding again. But I think a move out to the country would have to be part of the deal.

[Vaquero]

See 99. Clearly we had different riding styles.