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Only one small car passes tough crash test

Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY 1:11 p.m. EST January 22, 2014
Chevrolet Spark is the only car receiving a passing grade, and Honda Fit is the worst.

The smallest cars fared poorest as a group of any class of vehicles

The smallest cars on the road carry the biggest injury risk in a common and deadly type of crash, a report released Wednesday reveals.

Only one of 11 small city and minicars passed the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s small front overlap crash test in which a car hits a barrier with the front driver’s side corner at 40 miles per hour. It simulates clipping another car head-on or hitting a tree or pole.

The worst performer was the Honda Fit, which earned a “poor” rating in the test along with five other models and all but one of the rest were “marginal.”

Just one car among the 2013 and 2014 models tested received an “acceptable” rating in the tough test — the Chevrolet Spark. Thus, Spark is the only one in the group to earn the IIHS Top Safety Pick designation.

“We’re geeked,” says Chevrolet spokeswoman Annalisa Bluhm about the passing grade. She says improvements were made when the car was introduced into the U.S.but no modifications were added to pass the specific test. The car is a global product that was developed by General Motors’ GM Korea unit.

The group performed worse than any other car category on the test, which was instituted in 2012. None received the highest rating of “good.”

“Small, lightweight vehicles have an inherent safety disadvantage,” Joe Nolan, a senior vice president for the institute, the safety arm of the insurance industry, says in a statement.

Read: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/01/22/iihs-small-cars-crash-test/4721607/

http://time.com/1529/the-terrifying-video-that-will-convince-you-not-to-buy-a-small-car/