Smart, sure... but tough?

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The Smart Fortwo is small, light, easy to park and cheap to run. It looks pretty interesting too. So far, so good. When the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) got hold of one and subjected it to its crash test regime, this cheeky set of wheels started to lose its charm just a little.

As the NHTSA’s Safercar website shows, there was a ‘safety concern’ from the side-impact test (where a 3,015-pound car’ hits a broadside at 38.5 miles per hour) when the driver’s door unlatched and opened. According to the NHTSA (and common sense), this “increases the likelihood of passenger ejection.” Nevertheless, the Smart still scored the maximum five stars for this section.

It also secured four out of five for a front-end crash (performed at 35 mph) on the driver’s side and three for the passenger-side equivalent. The administration says that a Fortwo passenger has a 21 to 35% chance of serious injury in this kind of impact. Five stars would have meant a risk of 10% or less.

The rollover rating was again three out of five, the NHTSA assesses the car’s rollover risk at 21 percent. For an average car, that risk is normally around 10%, although some SUVs could run to 26%.

The next bout of bashing will occur later in April when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gets the white coats, clipboards and hammers out.

-- Colin Ryan