Recent Crash Test Video Footage on TV -- Rebuttal?

[BobDiaz]

Originally Posted by vwW12

Here you go.

Thanks, that seems to be the only one out there so far. I don't know the exact number of Smarts out there in the US. Is it 25,000, 30,000, 35,000, 40,000???

Anyone who know statistics knows that our current sample size is too small to be really meaningful, so don't take this conclusion too strongly.... The current Mini-Car death rate is 1 in 22,222. Based on 1 death, the Smart Car Death Rate is 1 in (Insert Number Of cars sold in the US).

While I don't know the exact number, I know it's a lot better odds than the Mini-Car Death Rate and depending on the the number of cars sold in the US, it's starting to look like the rates for the bigger cars.





Put enough of ANY car out there and someone is going to die in a traffic accident. Still, again, I must stress that the sample size is too small, but the initial data tends to point to the safety of the Smart Car in comparison to larger cars.



Bob Diaz

[WhiteNBlack08]

According to this thread:
http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/for...85/index4.html


there are about 30,000 smarts in the US now.

[forestacademy]

Again, it it Deaths per # of cars on the road or # of accidents in that car.

There is no way of determining if the car avoids accidents, thus avoiding deaths

[Mike T]

There are stats on this from Mercedes-Benz; they assigned a number to this with respect to their use of ESP.

[jdlynch99]

Ya know I was thinking about this on the way in to work this morning, and this daily trip is mostly how I drive my Smart; on the freeway going 70-75.

Well I noticed that I don't see any C class Mercedes going the other direction, as a matter of fact I don't see any cars going the other direction, the wall is too tall.

So the way I figure it... in order to get in an accident with that Mercedes like the IIHS says I will; it would have to come up over that wall, land back down on the road where we could hit, and possibly kill me, but... since it would be airborn so high my thinking it would completely miss my little Smart and crash into some Semi truck, and I would be spared...

So there ya have it the Smart Car is Safe.....

[jediknight36]

I still would like to see the test. Any link to it? I hear The Chevy Aveo isnt on that list... I wonder why?

[forestacademy]

Stated before. They only tested mini / or micro cars that originaly got a "good" Raiting in a front offset crash. The Aveo didn't meet that origial level, so they didn't even bother with this style of test.

[NeWave]

Originally Posted by jdlynch99

Ya know I was thinking about this on the way in to work this morning, and this daily trip is mostly how I drive my Smart; on the freeway going 70-75.

Well I noticed that I don't see any C class Mercedes going the other direction, as a matter of fact I don't see any cars going the other direction, the wall is too tall.

So the way I figure it... in order to get in an accident with that Mercedes like the IIHS says I will; it would have to come up over that wall, land back down on the road where we could hit, and possibly kill me, but... since it would be airborn so high my thinking it would completely miss my little Smart and crash into some Semi truck, and I would be spared...

So there ya have it the Smart Car is Safe.....

That's how my commutes are....

[BobDiaz]

This thread and another like it brings up the point of perception vs. reality.

People can assume something and be wrong in their judgment, thus resulting in a false perception about something. The news media showing the head-on crash video makes for great drama, but is a distorted view of reality. Sadly, it's in our nature to accept what we see without any critical thinking or analysis of what we are seeing.

The reality turns out to be very different from the images shown on TV. The head-on crash is the exception, rather than the rule and the Smart does very well in the crashes that are more common. Even then, as pointed out by someone else, in the head-on crash, the driver/passenger area in the Smart didn't collapse; thus providing crush protection to both both persons in the Smart.


The funny thing about all of this is that if you look at cars on the road, in most cases, it only has one person in the car. Now I admit, that there are times when one must carry 3+ people, but you would think in a 2 or 2+ car family, one car would have the higher capacity and the other would be just enough to carry the one person. Thus, the cost of driving would be reduced to the smaller car.

I guess it goes back to this perception vs. reality. At the point of sale, the person perceives that the larger SUV, Truck, or Minivan, is the "safer car". Thus, they get the larger more expensive car, but the reality is that the SUV, Truck, and Minivan may not be the safest choice.

Perhaps the best posting about this perception vs. reality, was from a person driving their Smart and a person on a Harley Motorcycle tells the Smart Driver that the Smart is just NOT safe!!! Now let's see, how does a motorcycle do in a crash test....



Bob Diaz

[BigWarpGuy]

The SUV or truck or Van might be safer until it encounters a train. If they think smaller is less safe, what do they think of those who ride motorcycles or scooters? At least the Smart has a shell around the driver and passenger.