Small cars fail crash tests against big cars.

CrzRsn

So long, and thanks for all the fish
Joined
Mar 6, 2005
Messages
17,444
Location
Motor City, Michigan
Car(s)
13 Ford Mustang GT, 17 Ford Fiesta ST
Smart forTwo vs. Mercedes C-Class
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he6TL15pJtw[/YOUTUBE]

Honda Fit vs. Honda Accord
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLfK35O91gE[/YOUTUBE]

Toyota Yaris vs. Toyota Camry
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcTf78b8WfY[/YOUTUBE]


And the classic Smart vs. Mercedes S-Class
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02eghIfyHP0[/YOUTUBE]
 
oh noes! Big cars are heavier and safer than small cars? This news appalls and surprises me ! :jawdrop:
 
Fuck me that Honda Jazz is scary.

Better tell my mom to replace it with an SUV :p
 
To be honest the Smarts come out well, the tridion doesn't deform in any of them and the dummy legs are not crushed.

Really need the dummy data to tell though.
 
^ who knows how it will deform after it bounces back into the path of an oncoming 20-wheeler after the initial impact..... Just look at how far from the impact the Smart car lands in both cases.
 
More interesting is the difference the size makes with similar ratings. I remember seeing some tests where two cars with same rating one small one large would be put through the test and the small one would not do too well.
 
^no, the most interesting thing is that the US spec Yaris is completely fucked up and ugly compared to the Euro spec Yaris...

these tests are inconclusive, and now people can go "well you see that? Glad I still drive my SUV" and be happy...
 
And the winner is me. :lol:
Why? I have been in that accident, the other car (96' trans am) looked like the fit and yaris and my car was my bug, which I am still driving. :) Just 2 tiny bruises on my knees, take that Japan.
 
Fuck me that Honda Jazz is scary.

:blink: I concur.

Note to self: if in head on collision, ensure other car is smaller.

Seriously though, it would be interesting to see if there's any intrustion into any of the cabins...because there's a lot of extrenal deformities, but that's a good thing because it means the external structure is absorbing the energy of the crash.
 
I actually am happy my focus did well in head on collisions, and has side impact air bags(option) at least in mine.
 
^ who knows how it will deform after it bounces back into the path of an oncoming 20-wheeler after the initial impact..... Just look at how far from the impact the Smart car lands in both cases.

Well obviously a small car can't defy the laws of physics but with airbags, pre-tensioners, crumple zones & a safety cell you're going to stand a better chance in them than many cars.
 
Yeah, and it's certainly better than the good old days when a honda civic was a subcompact hatchback and would likely neatly mash any human inside of it into pulp in the event of a crash. Still, this is a bit frightening for owners of smaller cars.
 
^ who knows how it will deform after it bounces back into the path of an oncoming 20-wheeler after the initial impact..... Just look at how far from the impact the Smart car lands in both cases.

WTF, you guys runnin' road trains over there too?
 
:blink: I concur.

Note to self: if in head on collision, ensure other car is smaller.

Seriously though, it would be interesting to see if there's any intrustion into any of the cabins...because there's a lot of extrenal deformities, but that's a good thing because it means the external structure is absorbing the energy of the crash.

Yes, there was almost surely severe intrusion in both the Fit and Yaris. You can guess it by taking a look at standard crash tests and seeing how the deformation of passenger compartment is related to intrusion and predicted injuries. Also, the result of the crash is shown at the beginning of the video.

Note that deformation of passenger compartment is never a good thing. The sudden lack of structural stability makes it impossible to protect the occupants from being squashed. It also prevents from assessing exactly what will happen in case of crash, because every single crash would have totally unpredictable results due to the massive amount of uncontrollable variables. So it will also be impossible to think of some new protection (not that there will be any need of them since the passengers will have already been killed by the severe injuries caused by the crushing).

The most important point in car safety during a crash is precisely that the passenger compartment remain stable and undeformed; this is why crumple zones exist and why, for examples, roll-bar is needed in almost any form of motorsport.

What really struck me is the terrible result of the Toyota Yaris, which alway had good results in standard crash-tests (european verion).
 
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The laws of physics: they still exist. Still not trading in my small car for a big one.
 
To be honest the Smarts come out well, the tridion doesn't deform in any of them and the dummy legs are not crushed.

Really need the dummy data to tell though.

An important thing about the small cars, especially the smart, is that many times the occupant would survive the injuries from damage caused by vehicle deformities...however, because the cars are so light, the deceleration is so incredibly violent that your internal organs would be so damaged that you still wouldn't survive the crash.
 
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Apart from the Yaris they look decent considering the large difference in size.
 
I think the Yaris did the worst! Look at that a-pillar, completely destroyed and the door nearly came off! Yikes.
 
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