Is There Such A Thing As A SAFE, SMALL Car? And Who Do You Think Makes The Safest?

Well if a small civic has a head on collision like the picture above of course the people in the civic are screwed.

For example:
Let's just say Agent001 is driving his imaginary e92 m3 ( I don't know if you have one ) and I'm in my LX and we had a head on collision. I would think I had the better odd of surviving. And the m3 is not consider a small car either.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha...is Honda giving free drugs with every car they sell? Ha, ha, ha, ha...

Most of the cars today are fairly safe considering the amount of safety features that come standard. I would worry more about the older cars that are still on the road, regardless of their size. New cars are safe.

Don't have an M3 currently.

I'm driving a 2008 BMW X5 and a 2008 Lexus LS600h.

001

Woah, Star actually made a good comment (the second one). Congrats.

What happened to the Porsche you got about a year ago???

Sold the C2S...

001

Agent001 , i have a question - what`s ls600h real world fuel consumption .

001, Is the Lexus something that you were given as a tester by Lexus or purchased?

I'm averaging 19.5mpg city on the LS600h...

001

The LS600h is a long term review car provided to us by Lexus for evaluation purposes.

001

Long term... Dude you must be the smartest or luckiest guy to come up with the site about cars and have the auto manufacturer loan their car "as a test." PERFECT! That was your plan wasn't it.

Brembo +1. I don't care how big the vehicle is you're driving, if you drive head on into a semi like the photo, chances are you're dead, even if the vehicle you're driving is another semi.

i thought the Mercedes Smart Car For Two was the safest smallest car with all 4 and 5 star crash rating???? And a gas saver?

well if ur planing a head on collision wit a big trailer like that then NO its not safe
but i like small cars
most of the best made cars are small

Tiff did this on Fifth Gear - the second greatest motoring sghow on the planet - with the Smart Car and an Opal Corsa .

Loads of fun. Here is the bit...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sR6UozdBWRY

let's rephrase this. if you drive a yaris or fit, what is the biggest vehicle you think it will stand up to?

Lol another Yaris or Fit. Just kidding.

The small, inexpensive car that resonates with me is the VW Jetta...Watch the 'Safe Happens' ad campaign

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjcSWW3vCBk

This IS a serious subject so let's take it that way.

001

Sure it's a serious subject. But the level of safety in a car is depended on the level stupidity of the driver in the small car.

I have to agree with Brembo. How safe you end up in an accident has as much to do with a driver's awareness as the size of the car.

This goes back to an older argument we all had on safety. A "properly" built smaller car really needs to have a 5 star rating as much as possible. It has a pretty high chance of tangling with a much larger vehicle on the road. With the large mass and kenetic energy of say an SUV in a collision, you need all of the protection you can get.

Crash worthiness should be more important than gas mileage in consideration of a smaller car.

00J is right ... But that 5 stars should not negate the driver from being cautious of his or her surrounding.

I'm all about "safer" car, but the driver is what determine how safe he or she wants to drive.

In that picture, the car looks like a small VW, maybe Polo or Golf

It's a previous-gen SEAT Ibiza.

Generally, if you're lucky enough to hit something straight-on, you're not in too bad of shape.
But when you get "T-Boned" you're in trouble.
In fact, we had an RCMP officer killed in Richmond when his Crown Vic was t-boned by a kid playing mid-town madness with his mom's Civic, and the kid walked away!

Safe, tough small cars:
* Smart Car: very tough car, but can you handle the G-forces?
* New Beetle: when I bought my TDI in 1998 it was rated higher for side-impact than the Camry, Crown Vic, or (surprise) Chevy Tahoe, meaning that cop that died on duty would have had better odds if he was in a Beetle!
* almost anything from Germany, Sweden, etc.

A highway patrol officer working in the Rocky Mountains ("first on the scene") once told me: "I'd rather be in a German car with a seat-belt than a Japanese apple-crate with an air-bag!"

Well to make one thing clear, almost every new small car launched in Europe has recieved a (maximum) five-star rating by EuroNCAP.

So although you can't beat the laws of physics, as witnessed by the last-gen SEAT Ibiza in the photo, you can be sure modern small cars are absolutetly some of the safest cars on the market.

For example, the five-star rated FIAT Grande Punto is SAFER in a head-on crash than a Chrysler Voyager, which recieved severe structure deformation in the A-pillar and footwell.

I've had people ask of our Beetle: "But do you feel safe driving it?".
I ask: which is stronger, a piece of spaghetti or macaroni?
They both weigh the same.

The Beetle TDI and the base Chrysler mini-van also weigh roughly the same (3000 pounds ... or they did back in '98).
So I explain to them: the Beetle is the Macaroni, and the Mini-van is the Spaghetti. Which would you rather be in?

In a head on collusion like the picture above, I dont think any car would be considered safe. There is a limit for safety, and some cars might be safer than others, but that questions what you mean by "safe".

Cars by the day are becoming lighter and lighter, and more plastic is used to make the body. Lets compare a 1974 beetle with a new one. The old one feels about a million times more solid, while the new one can be bent by your hands! Same can be said about any other new car.

Try crashing a Kia Rio, Toyota Yaris, Hyundai Accent, Nissan Tiida/Versa, Honda City and even the safest one of them wouldn't really be considered "safe".

Huh? A new Beetle is almost 3000 pounds of steel. About 500 more pounds than a Civic. And maybe 1000 pounds more than the old Beetle!
The old ones were tough, but the New Beetle is a roll-cage with body panels!

M53R "Cars by the day are becoming lighter and lighter"

Wait....WHAT????

You are safer in a latest generation car. Even a smaller one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3ygYUYia9I

good point . i would like to be in small renault modus than here when crash occur :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB0araA0T_k

I don't think a truck would be safe in this head on. I bought a 2007 civic because it had the safest 5 star ratings all around, and yes a smaller car isn't as safe as a comparable year 5 star rated vehicle.I would be driving around in a full blown full size off road race truck if I could fit the family in it and afford the gas.lol

That last spec is a combination of 2 factors:
* very strong, safe design (VW likely spends more on automotive safety design than any other manufacturer in the world)
* low cost of repair (VW parts are relatively cheap, probably because the Golf is the highest-volume production vehicle in the history of the automobile)

This aren`t good statistics . this depend how car is driven - slowly or fast , amount of miles per year specific car is riding , example : compare nissan 350Z and infinity g35 deaths - cars very similar structurally but with different drivers . They shouldn`t do rate of driver death per amount of registered vehicles but percent of death per amount of crashes becouse this would have more direct connect to chances of death when crash occur , but even this isn`t perfect statistic , the best i think are crash-tests .

Maybe . or maybe they do generally fewer miles , golfs have lower avarage owner age so it`s possibility that they do fewer miles becouse young persons generally have less money for fuel . But this are only guesses and that`s why such statistics aren`t good . Such statistics aren`t any proof , only indication for someone who know "how to read" them .

crash injury statistics from UK :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_accident_statistics_on_a_model-by-model_basis

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/vehicles/carsmmrisk/carsmakeandmodeltheriskofdri1800

"It does not address issues of primary safety and gives no information on whether or not specific makes of car have different risks of being involved in an accident."

Fords f-150 after redesign was drive by the similar peoples , in the similar way , peoples that had similar accidents and amount of accidents but when accident occur were more safe in improved car .

don`t you really get a point ?

I see you don`t get me right . Read my posts above and my links and - most important - citation from similar statistics from UK :
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/vehicles/carsmmrisk/carsmakeandmodeltheriskofdri1800

"It does not address issues of primary safety and gives no information on whether or not specific makes of car have different risks of being involved in an accident."

We must remember that the laws of physics are not subject to repeal.

Big whoops up on small every time. Especially head on.

Semi trucks should be much smaller, and all larger trucks should have better bumpers with deformable structures, and the headlights at the same height as passenger cars. Next they need to have a barrier in place on all Interstates and 4 lane highways that would stop cars from jumping across into oncoming traffic and stop headlights from oncoming traffic from blinding people driving the other direction. That would be a start to making our roads safer for small cars.

I secound all the above!

Yeah and they need to teach Americans how to drive like they do in europe rather than having us make a block and heres your license can drive. People here really can't drive at all. blocking the fast lane going below the speed limint, no turn signal, ETC.

Another thing to factor in, other than passive safety in small cars, is active safety.

It's no secret smaller cars stop quicker and react to sharp steering inputs more quickly, so one can assume that if you are an alert driver, you can utilise a smaller cars better handling to avoid a crash.

Larger cars (SUV's in particular, though) take longer to stop and in the case of SUV's without Stability control systems, can roll over in an avoidance manoeuvre.

...

yup. it's been said before: the most critical piece of safety eqpt. is THE NUT BEHIND the wheel.

at one time, the drivers with the BEST SAFETY RECORD as a group, were big rig truck drivers. yet, they drove the MOST DANGEROUS VEHICLES. overweight, underpowered, underbraked, ill-handling. what made the operators safe? knowing and ALLOWING FOR the inherent drawbacks.

flip to the other side: among the MOST DANGEROUS (mainly to themselves) drivers, were kids on sport bikes. YET, the machines were inherently capable of being THE SAFEST: outstanding capacities in handling, braking, evasive action, and acceleration. kids were killing themselves because they tended to OVER EXPLOIT the handling and speed capabilities, TOO OFTEN OVERDRIVING their skill level!

i myself seasonally drive both an inherently dangerous vehicle (tour bus) and an inherently safe vehicle (motorcycle). i DO NOT FEEL UNSAFE with either! EVER. (i get closer to the 'edge of the envelope' ONLY when in my car.)

and other nuts on the road ARE NOT much of a threat factor; a GOOD driver will spot and avoid them LONG BEFORE they're in striking range.

That is the biggest load of crap I have ever read...
MichaelTaylor, it is time for you to be banned.. Nothing, I mean nothing you post is constructive.
We don't need trolls like you.

yea that was a pretty gay comment, do you sell toyota's?

He cleans them.

"hence the high death rate in Europe of small car owners"

lol, it's obvious this guy isn't being serious. Probably another person makiong a mockery of Japanese car fans. The majority of modern safety innovations in cars were created in Europe.

"Some of the safest small cars are made by Toyota and Honda. European cars with their poor build quality cannot really stack up in most crash situations, hence the high death rate in Europe of small car owners."

failed a IQ test? did you read the sources that turbospyder provided? wheres your?

MichaelTaylor- You obviously don't read very much. I have never seen a person look as foolish as you do sometimes.

And just what do you drive?

monkey man is not allowed to drive motorized vehicles yet. he is limited to swinging on tree branches, and just MAYBE, under supervision, on playground swings.

A year ago I got into a head on collision driving my mother's '02 civic at about 40 mph. A '98 BMW 325 cross the line and hit the car on the front driver's side. Me and my girlfriend walk away and my daughter woke up in her car seat. The Civic held up very well and is still on the road today. The BMW got totaled (probably caught a bad angle). It's funny because I use to look at my mother crazy when she use to praise the 5 star safety commercials Honda use to run with the Civic. This isn't praise for the Civic or a bash at the BMW (because the woman was unharm also) but just a testimony on a small car fairing well.

I'd just like to see a similar crash between said Civic and say... a Suburban or Hummer?
Also, every VW Golf/Jetta etc, I've ever seen involved in a major accident, the occupants have either died or been severely injured. It kinda goes against every VW commercial I've seen.

I think it's funny that people see modern Civics and Golfs as small cars.
A Golf is almost just as big as a B7 A4 or 3 series, just without the sedan look.

At that, safety is about the lowest on the list of requirements when i'm looking for a car.
Especially since the difference in safety between modern cars is so small.

What if you had hit a Suburban? It would have been a trajic story for your family. There are millions of large SUV's still out on the roads from the SUV binge of the past 10 years.

i was sure glad i had my big ass suv when i got hit by an out of control toyota van going the wrong way on the highway.

The 98 BMW didn't have a good safety rating - according to EuroNCAP, it only got 2/5 stars for occupant safety.

I have a out-of-reach question: whats with europes crash standards making them allow that deathtrap-out-of-china brilliance in their market?

It's not, is it? I thought we banned it. And if they ban that they should ban the Nissan Navaro (a pick up truck, I think the Frontier in the US) which got only 0.5 stars out of 5, the worst result ever.

http://www.autospies.com/news/EuroNCAP-Crash-Tests-Pick-ups-With-Some-Deadly-Surprises-27003/

The picture doesn't show the full damage, but ENCAP said that the chassis rail collapsed, which isn't good.

I like the frontier, but ugh, that sucks.

My first car was an '81 Fiat X1/9. That was probably the toughest little car I've ever owned. Not only was it agile enough to avoid most accidents, but it withstood a blind-side impact from a Jeep Cherokee traveling at 110mph. All I know is, that little car saved my bacon. Myself and my passenger walked away from that wreck without even 1 scratch between the 2 of us. I can't even count the number of major wrecks I was able to avoid all together because of the agility of that car.

was the jeep cherokee going 110 mph, or were you? if the former, no way you would've walked away alive.

but if YOU were traveling at 110, your own momentum saved you, and he merely DEFLECTED your travel path.

This story is more a testament that God didn't want you yet. 1984 vehicles were not known to have crash standards. I know someone that had a minor accident in a Fiat and the car was a major write off and she was injured! Luckily just minorly. Glad to hear that no one was hurt.

If a car like a Smart Car was hit by a full-size SUV, game over. It would fly into the next time zone. Might as well just ride a motorcyle, have more fun, and not look like a tool.

Make no mistake, the tool is driving the SUV.

One solution might be to restrict passenger vehicle size on the road. This would not only be for fuel economy but for safty reasons as well.We should perhaps limit the length of a vehicle to 190 inches,width to 75 inches,height to 60 inches and weight to not exceed 4000 LBS.Further we should stipulate that no more then a certain amount of the largest vehicle's(within the perameters just mentioned) can be sold in a yr.That would mean that SUv's,pick ups,crossovers and ultra large vehicles would be a thing of the past.Yes it's Draconian and screams of "Big Brother". However it would probably reduce the damage caused by a big car and a small car colliding not only to the vehicle's but also perhaps reduce fatalities.Building vehicles within these perameters would force auto makers to use lighter materials and make them more space efficient.

Sorry, I guess I didn't realize I was living in Communist East Germany. It's a good thing you aren't a US legislator.

Some of us actually use our vehicles for more than just a commuter tool, plodding along down the highway.

Besides, If you do that, how will your precious wheat grass get shipped to your Organic Goods Supermarket?

Is some unkempt guy with dreadlocks gonna hook a pull cart to the back of his mountain bike and haul it cross country?

Maybe we should just not allow you to talk on your cell phone and drink you Starbucks while eating a donut and driving? Maybe then you would have a chance to react and get out of the way of the "giant" suburban coming towards you.

As for mileage, Electric drive vehicles are the only logical solution.

I'll step off my soapbox now. Thank you.

It is not an issue of whether a small car is safe, its an issue of whether the passengers of a small car will live through an impact with a LARGE car.

And the answer is NO. A larger vehicle will ALWAYS win that battle. Now, you know why a military tank is called a "tank". Weight and mass wins in combat and on the streets.

Yes, good design can "improve" your changes (~20%) of surviving when your small car impacts a larger vehicle, but a larger vehicle will improve your chances several times (100-200%) when impacting a vheicle of similar size.

At this time, the existing population of vehicles containts millions of large SUV's. Until that population is retired and off the streets you have to assume that your small car will impact a much larger vehicle(your life and your family's lives depend on it).

Thus, at this time, there are NO safe small cars. To drive one or let your family drive in one is pretty equal to criminal neglect. would you let them run with sissors? Get into a car with strangers? Play with fire? Then why would anyone let their loved ones risk impacting a 3 ton SUV in a 1 ton hybrid - all just to save $20 a week in gas?

You sound a little delusional there.

The fact is, EVERYTHING has risks. From driving to the mall to climbing a ladder.

If that is your argument against buying a small car (running with scissors?, criminal neglect-lol) then I don't agree with you.

In fact, using your fuzzy logic, I should (in the interest of my safety) go and purchase a Freightliner because a lowly Tahoe isn't going to come off well against one of those.

And who cares if its totally impractical.

Well, everyone jut wants to believe that small cars are safe, but they are just fooling themselves.

Fact is, a beach ball filled with air will stop your head from hitting the windshield, but is no match for a 70,000 LBS trck coming at you at 70 MPH. The forces are just too great. A thin piece of 12 Gauge Sheet metal is no match as well. A cast steel I-Beam frame will save you, but is prohibited due to weight and the CAFÉ standards. Volvo has door intrusion beams, but they are made of stamped sheet metal, but better than nothing at all.

I drive on the interstate, hundreds of miles per day. I’ve seen many accidents. The gruesome ones involve small cars. they have to place a tarp over the car due to the decesed occupants. I always see old people walking away from accidents in large sedans.

I have a friend who was badly injured in a Chevy Cobalt. A truck rear ended her at 40 MPH. The Truck headlights were embedded into the back of the driver’s seat. If there were Back seat passengers at the time, they would have been unrecognizable. Where is Chevy now?
They claim they build a safe small car on paper, what about the real world? It is like measuring the MPG on a car while it is coasting downhill, they may not be lying, but they certainly are not representing the truth either. Text book answers are great, they get people feeling good, and absolves the manufactures liability.

The government is going to regulate what we can drive. the big three phased out city trains decades ago in favor of increased car sales.

And yes, a more agile small car can avoid some accidents (~10%). And there are other equally minor mitigating factors as well, but as they say, THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR SIZE (well, actually mass in this case, but you know what I mean).

All of the crash safety tests are designed to evaluate the crashworthiness of cars relative to each other (by imparting the same impact on each car). But that isn't what happens when you are in a small car and impact a much larger vehicle. That scenario is NEVER tested and reported because the small car loses every time and the results would scare your pants off (basically everyone in the small car dies almost every time).

Well, as many already know, the IIHS actually did conduct the test you described, showing what happens when a minicar gets hit by a mid-sized sedan. The results are catastrophic.

I appreciate your posts. Unfortunately, it appears that a lot of folks are in denial about this.

The Town Car is Dirt Cheap to insure for 1 reason. It has owned the Triple 5-Star Crown for over a decade now.

5-Star Front/Rear Impact,

5-Stra Side Impact

5-Star Roll-Over

Underwriters at my Insurance company tell me the Town Car is considered one of the Safest Cars on the road, hence the much lower insurance costs. And I’m insured with one of the most respected Insurance companies, you need to have a super-clean driving record, and be referred by a member to gain acceptance.

The problem with your car is that it transfers the large amount of energy from an impact onto the occupants, as it does not have a sophisticated driver cell with crumple zones. So while the Town Car may look relatively unscathed in a head-on, occupants will probably suffer severe whiplash and brain/spinal injuries.

Oh and for the record, I don't think the Town Car is as safe as you claim. Old Volvo's are big and solid too, but recent tests with these larger older cars reveal one thing- Occupants have a low survival rate.

There is no substitute for technology and modern engineering practices, despite out-dated views which would suggest the opposite.

Although I will concede that the sheer weight of the boat-like TC would knock around any car that it might have an impact with.

No one is suggesting that bicycles or walking be outlawed, so how can you legislate the smallest car size? It's rediculous. I'm sure you'd howl if someone suggested cars be limited in size at the large end. As long as the small car is as safe as it can be AND the purchaser knows the crach ratings then that's all you can ask.

Well at 23 MPG Highway I’d rather have a few feet of Crumple zones in all directions on the TC as opposed to only a few inches found on small cars.

I’ve seen the TC crash test movies, the front hood collapses and absorbs impact. Ford pioneered the Energy absorption Steering Column that we seen on their cars as far back as the 70s. I will agree, that the crumple zones are not as sophisticated as say BMW, but they are robust enough for me.

You only need to roll underneath a TC on a creeper to see how well built they are, heavy duty twin-rail frames and heavy duty coil springs that are normally found on commercial pickup trucks.

Yes, it is a cheap way to buy safety, but it works.

Take a stroll through junkyards and see how cars hold up to accidents, especially when they have burned and the plastic is melted away revealing the metal skeleton. I remember seeing a Ford Excursion that had burned, I couldn’t believe the massive I-beam housed underneath the dashboard. Of course the Excursion is just to massive, but it drives the point.

I rented a Kia for a few days, I was really concerned about how paper thin the driver door was. All the technology in the world can’t replace steel.

One key thing to note is that it's not as much as it is about size as it is about weight. Momentum = mass x velocity. The greater the mass of your car, the greater momentum. It just so happens that smaller cars tend to be lighter, bearing the brunt of a collision.

There are a lot of factors in how safe a car is, and a lot of it also depends on the collision itself or the other car. Some SUVs, such as Volvo, Mercedes, and I think BMW, design their chassis so that it's around the same height as a car (to help dissipate collision forces). Some other SUVs have chassis that are much higher than the chassis on a car, which means the car can't effectively absorb and dissipate the forces because there is no structure in place to withstand it at that height. In that situation, you could be driving a large family car but still potentially sustain significant damage and injury.

Having said that, there are safe small cars that would be wise choices if that's what you were looking for.

Just a small amount of a good crush zone can mean the difference between survival or not. They should make every vehicle have them and the large trucks and SUVs should have an extra amount depending on weight. Check some of the crashes in F1 etc... that small amount of carefully constructed crush zone has saved some lives. Of course sometimes no matter what you have in place the forces are just too great to be absorbed. Still these huge trucks, SUVs and especially the Semis with the giant steel bumpers have a ton of room for improvement to make the roads safer for everyone on them.

the most critical piece of safety eqpt. is THE NUT BEHIND the wheel.

at one time, the drivers with the BEST SAFETY RECORD as a group, were big rig truck drivers. yet, they drove THE MOST DANGEROUS VEHICLES. overweight, underpowered, underbraked, ill-handling. what made the operators safe? just knowing and ALLOWING FOR the inherent drawbacks.

flip to the other side: among the MOST DANGEROUS drivers (mainly just to themselves), are kids on sport bikes. YET, the machines are INHERENTLY CAPABLE of being THE SAFEST on the road: outstanding capabilities in handling, braking, evasive action, and acceleration. kids are killing themselves because they tend to OVER EXPLOIT the handling and speed capabilities, TOO OFTEN OVER-DRIVING their skill level!

i myself seasonally drive both an inherently dangerous vehicle (tour bus) and an inherently safe vehicle (motorcycle). i DO NOT FEEL UNSAFE with either! EVER. (i sometimes get close to the 'edge of the envelope' but ONLY when in my car.)

and other nuts on the road ARE NOT much of a threat factor; a GOOD driver will spot and avoid them LONG BEFORE they're in striking range.

people looking at stats also need to distinguish between single vehicle accidents and others. most of the former are the 'tanks' which either FAIL to make a curve, or rollover in a failed evasive action. they also have MORE MOMENTUM/ENERGY that needs to be dissipated.

Underpowered cars are dangerous as well. I drove through a construction zone with an improperly placed yield sign at an Interstate on-ramp. The detour put the on-ramp at the backside of a blind hill. And a stop sign should have been used instead. Pulling out onto the interstate, an 18 Wheeler suddenly came over the hill at 70MPH and almost smashed me in the rear. It was on my within mili-seconds. I had my Chrysler 300 floored, and the car just wouldn’t go. The 18 Wheeler was jack-knifing behind me, desperately trying to stop, he was even down shifting and jake-braking and cloud of tire-smoke was engulfing the rig.

So much for 6 cylinders. I really thought I was dead! This was a time where I really needed the power of my Ford v8. The acceleration just wasn’t there on the Chrysler V6. The V6 was severely lacking. I drive the Chrysler 300 with extreme caution now. I consider it a death-trap of a car, and it isn’t a very big car either, kind of tight inside, and I’m a slim guy. I don’t like driving cars while my knees are touching the dashboard and my torso is hugging the door panel.

Once you get used to the security of a V8, it is amazing how vulnerable you feel in a V6 or 4 cylinder when you hit the gas, and the car just won’t get out of its own way.

The point is, I consider myself an extremely safe driver, but the construction zone just threw me a deadly curve-ball I wasn’t expecting. It is in rare moments like these where a safe car becomes worth its weight in gas, I mean gold.

underpowered cars are still LESS DANGEROUS than underpowered AND underbraked trucks. you simply got yourself into a situation of putting your mildly unsafe, underpowered vehicle, if front of a grossly unsafe underbraked vehicle.

you can blame the hiway crew for ill placed signage, but still it was YOU who placed yourself in a vulnerable position.

NO SANE person who knows he doesn't have great accelerative ability, will jump in front of a lumbering semi.

I am 6'4" tall and long-waisted, and I fit in the current Chrysler 300 just fine (if there is no sunroof). So unless you are built like Shaquille O'Neal, you must be referring to the previous Chrysler 300.

i guess audi's are ok.
http://www.nbc30.com/news/16276964/detail.html

This article reminded me of an interesting video from Fifth Gear

http://www.mahalo.com/Smart_Car

Not saying the Smart is the safest small car, but it's an interesting video cause I've never seen a crash test done at 70 mph! too bad no dummies were involved to collect data (though that looked lethal).

I suggest you access the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. They test and rate virtually every car available in the U.S.

I can't list all of the winners, but I am pleased to note that the 2008 Audi A3, A4, and A6 all got top ratings! AmazinBimmer please take note! :-)

There is a crash-test rating where they select a small number of cars that are "above 5-star rating" ... like the 10 safest cars tested.
At least 1/2 those selected are VW/Audis.

When the new Jetta was tested, they said "it set a new standard for small-car safety"

For what it's worth, when I read a study on this years ago (I think it was from Consumer Reports, but I might be wrong), they found that the one overwhelming thing which contributed to survivability in an accident was car weight; nothing else was close. Unfortunately, this is usually the bane of fuel economy. I'd guess the best for both would be a large-size hybrid (eg: LS600h), since they compensate for weight with more fuel efficiency.

the LS600h, the only car to offer a V8 with V6 performance and V-10 fuel-consumption levels.
That was an embarrassment ... a hybrid that uses more fuel than the non-hybrid version of the same car!
And both use at least 50% more than the A8 TDI

The semi was invisable, on the other side of the hill. It appeared within seconds, after I was onto the interste, and was on my bumper within mili-seconds. I don't think the semi had bad brakes, because the wheels were locking up. I suspect the trailer was loaded with probaly 30-50,000 lbs. of cargo Inertia forces at theat speed are tremendous. You can't change the law of physics. This is why the trailer came sidways, the weight and force of the trailer steamrolled around the side of the cab of the slowing truck.

I should have backed down the entrance ramp, but with a line of cars behind me, and people in a hurry to get somewhere, that would have been a bit challenging. I could have maybe backed around them, but people get confused and panic easily if you do something they are not expecting.

Size does matter. The industry for more than 50 years told us that cigarette smoking was also safe, but people eventually figured it out that this couln't be true.

I share the road with double trailer rigs, and they all push the stopwatch. They are even talking about goig to Tripple trailers. That would be about 100 ton coming at you really fast.

Accident studies studying deaths per million miles driven showed a wide range of results for vehicles. The VW Gulf was the 4th safest vehicle on the road. The Chevy Cobalt was the 4th least safest vehicle on the road. Yet the VW Gulf and the Chevy Cobolt are in the same class of vehicles. So well designed crumple zones make a huge difference in how safe vehicles are. Some of the largest vehicles had the highest death rates. Insurance companies also go by number of deaths per million miles driven caused by the vehicle to the other vehicle. If your vehicle is twice as likely to kill the driver in the other vehicle you hit than killing you than your insurance will be higher as well.

When some well to do person says lets ban small cars because they are unsafe, what that well to do person is really saying is lets ban poor people from driving the road, I do not wish to be sued by them, or their family, should I run one of them over because of driving over the speed limit in a aggressive manner.

Not one person suggested requiring all mid size and all large size vehicles have radar/laser automatic breaking systems, backup warning systems with rear cameras, and IR heads up display for night driving, to prevent accidents as standard equipment. If you can afford a mid to large size vehicle, then you should have to pay for additional safety equipment to automatically avoid hitting the vehicle in front of you. Plus there are systems available that limit the speed of vehicles to the legal speed limit. Not one of you suggested making automatic speed controls standard safety equipment on all vehicles. If both the truck and the car in that photo had automatic braking systems and automatic speed control that accident could have minor with the driver of the car being arrested for driving on the wrong side of the road. If that car had GPS controlled lane system which prevents driving on the wrong side of the road (which could be made and automatically reprogrammed for road changes at construction zones.) that accident would not have occurred at all.

Well, as many already know, the IIHS actually did conduct the test you described, showing what happens when a minicar gets hit by a mid-sized sedan. The results are catastrophic.

I appreciate your posts. Unfortunately, it appears that a lot of folks are in denial about this.