Cars these days are not designed to 'hold up' very well in a crash. They are designed to absorb the energy of the crash without transferring that energy to the vehicle's occupants.

Thats why cars have 'crumple zones' that are actually designed to crush and absorb the energy from an impact. Its all about protecting the passengers.

We have two Mini Coopers. That's as small as I'm going to go.

I test drove one. It was buzzy and small. If you have a stable of cars it might be a nice toy.

Not bad. :)

By that measure, this was a failure, because they were taking the driver away in an ambulance, and it couldn't have even been a high speed collision.

I understand crumple zones, but typically speaking, they engine compartment is not one of those.

i've owned two of those in the past, and really liked them, actually. I just hate the local dealer, who is so backed up, they make you drop the car off for a day just to get the oil changed, and took 6 days to change the battery.

Tha article doesn't give me faith in the safety of the vehicle.

If you think about it there are not really many safe vehicles.

A lot of people ride motorcycles. Now that is a vehicle without a good crash rating. I dig my smart car and if a dump truck hits me, then I will wish I had chose to drive a dump truck. However, my sports car had less room, and was a convertible. I can tell you this, my car is small but highly visible. Everyone that drives near me stares, points, laughs, but never do they not see me. :thumbsup

I don´t have but i´d like it!

Brad is toally spot on here! We do not question structure anymore, of anything. Why are there so few decent turbo diesel cars in N.America vs. Europe?

Maybe because there are so few gas stations offering diesel.

Smart cars are surprisingly fun to drive, comfortable and safe.

Oh yeah...and the name comes from

S Swatch - they designed

M Mercedes - the corp-parent

A

R

T ...as in ART

not the smart roadster !