2008 Smart fortwo Safety Review

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Safety - What the Auto Press Says

Despite its rigid tridion safety cell, reviewers express doubt in the 2008 Smart Fortwo's ability to withstand a serious collision. The Fortwo earned four out of a possible five stars for the driver's protection in frontal offset crashes, and three out of five stars for the passenger's protection. In side crashes, the Fortwo earned five out of a possible five stars, but the federal government issued a safety concern because the car's driver door opened during side impact testing. The Smart also earned a three-star rollover rating.

• "At roughly a third the weight of a large luxury sedan…the Fortwo would be at a profound Newtonian disadvantage in most any vehicle-to-vehicle collision. So, the first question potential buyers must consider is a cosmic version of: Do I feel lucky?" -- Los Angeles Times
• "You do have a keen sense of your own mortality while driving on the freeway, largely because you're not sure you can swerve out of the way when something big and dangerous doesn't catch sight of you in its rearview mirrors." -- Edmunds
• "Safety experts believe that the best way to stay safe in a car this small is to avoid accidents altogether. To that end, the Smart is more maneuverable than larger cars, SUVs and trucks, making it easier to steer clear of a potential collision." -- Fort Worth Star-Telegram
• "All cars have skeletal frames that surround the passenger compartment. Smart brands its the Tridion Safety Cell and says its numerous cross-members and extruding crush zones -- including the wheel axles themselves -- leave little room for another car to strike a soft spot." -- Cars.com
• "The cockpit acts much like the shell of a walnut protecting the nuts within. Crash dynamics are designed so that rear and front crash forces are guided downward and side impacts are mitigated by reinforcements in the doors and B-pillars and the exaggeratedly short wheelbase, which allows the wheels and axles to absorb part of the energy." -- The Auto Channel
• "My guess is that in a collision, the Smart would get punted like a football." -- About.com