spoon059 wrote:
soren wrote:
Might want to get involved with a bit of education VS. assumption in that department. I'm no big fan of Smart cars, but they are, in fact, extraordinarily safe for their size, due to some interesting design features. They have an unusual steel "Exoskeleton" and have shown crashworthiness well above their class.
So I have a good friend who is a collision reconstructionist for our police department. He is part of the team that responds to all the fatal wrecks in our county. I've made your exact argument to him, and his response is as follows;
The Smart car is (or was at the time) a 5 star rated vehicle. That means that when it is crashed against similar size and weight vehicles it comes out well. That's great news!
Now comes the sobering reality... there are very few cars that are similar size and weight. At 1800 lbs, they simply don't have sufficient mass to absorb impact from a larger vehicle. They will get DESTROYED if hit by a typical half ton truck that weighs 3 times as much. Look at all the heavier SUV's, HD trucks, OTR trucks, delivery vans, etc on the road. Most vehicles on the road would cause serious damage to a Smart car.
5 Star ratings and cool exoskeletons are nice... but physics doesn't really care about that. Being "best in your class" doesn't mean much when you are the only one in your class. Being able to withstand cars twice your size is pretty good, but when you figure almost every car is twice your size and most are 3 to 4 times your size... that's not that great.
Your buddy is engaging in a whole lot of talk with zero science to back it up. Check the crash test done with the late 50's giant Chevy sedan, and the modern version of the same vehicle. High speed frontal offset and a HUGE weight and size difference. The new car literally knives through the passenger compartment of the old barge and destroys the driver. The driver of the newer vehicle would of been slightly injured. Check the 70MPH remote controlled barrier crash with the Smart Car. Check the video of the Mexican Nissan Sentra, that no longer met our ever improving crash standards, decades ago, but the Mexicans just stopped building a few months back. See how it performs against the current US version of Nissan's small car.
In a complete opposite observation from your buddy's opinion, I saw an early 70's GM cutlass convertible that was rear-ended to the point that the area from the bumper to the rear window was folded up like a whale tail. The doors were buckled and unopenable, and the thing burned to a crisp. The vehicle that struck it was largely intact, with uninjured occupants, and front doors that were opened. It was still rolling and steerable. That car was a Honda Element!!!
Crash ratings are developed by actually crashing vehicles. Your entire post is based on supposition and opinion, quite the opposite of how testing, and real world scientifically based results are gathered.
