[roscommon]

I just returned from a few weeks in Italy and was greatly impressed with the Smart Car. It is perhaps the perfect car to have in an urban driving environment. I was even lucky to encounter the roadster model while walking back to my hotel in Rome late one evening -- very cool. My wife thought I was crazy to like such a small "get around the town" car. She felt that in now way could those cars be safe in an accident. Well, a few days later as we were walking near the Vatican all of those fears were set aside when we happened upon a three car car wreck. The Smart Car was hit from the front and back -- twisted metal was easily seen. The Smart Car was sandwiched. The car that hit it head-on was a modern FIAT and a Mercedes hit from behind.

Let me paint a picture.

The Fiat was completely totaled -- the poor old man driving was dejected. If the Smart Car had any damage in the front, I couldn't see it. The only damage I could see was from the Mercedes hitting the bumper where it produced a crack around three to four feet long. Other than that the Smart Car came through with flying colors. Mercedes has really done an exceptional job engineering this little car. I would totally recommend someone buying it if they live in a densely populated area where parking is a premium and they don't need much storage.

On a side note, by the looks of it, the Smart Car is even smaller than the original Mini Cooper!

Roscommon

[antiRepublicrat]

Mercedes has really done an exceptional job engineering this little car.

A friend of mine has one, and I would have bought one if I hadn't left Germany. They are very well engineered and safe. I saw a staged offset head-on with a normal small car (VW Golf size). The other driver would have been in the hospital, while the Smart driver may have gotten a headache. There was actually damage on the Smart's rear-end due to the design routing the force of the accident around the passenger compartment.

It's like an egg shell, special alloy, not regular steel.