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Eric Hsu posted on May 07, 2010 13:06 
In this day and age of cars that are big and heavy coupled with the high speeds and performance they are capable of, bad things can happen when a small car collides into a big car. This is especially the true when a big rig or semi-truck hits a smaller car. In the US where traffic moves fast and where we have tens of thousands of miles open highways and big heavy cars, I would be scared shitless to drive a tiny little car.
In smaller countries it is relatively safe to drive smaller cars. A perfect example is Japan where Kei cars (660cc micro cars) [thanks for correction Alex] [are easier to drive, save a ton of gas, easy to find parking for, are cheap and affordable and are relatively safe to drive due to the slower speeds on both streets and highways (short of the Wangan at 4:30AM where you'll literally see Skyline GT-Rs, Supras, and the occasional motorcycle blasting at 200+mph). In general slower speeds equal a lower mortality rate in severe accidents.
I got this email today of an accideint in Brazil. According to Wikipedia (you know it must be true), Brazil has the 4th largest highway system in the world believe it or not. The email came saying "Don't text and drive!", but I cannot see from the pictures that the dude was trying to text. I think it was just pictures from a fucked up accident and some goody two shoe decided to make it an email safety campaign. It is probably good enough to freak some people out though. Anyhow, it is small car vs. big car. WARNING: THIS IS GORY! DO NOT SCROLL DOWN FURTHER IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE CRAZY SHIT!
The laws of physics generally keep me from driving a tiny car here in the US. My buddy nick pulled up in a Smart Car one day and aside from thinking how gay he was, I was thinking that it was a death wish driving a Smart Car in the US. I think I would rather be riding a motorcycle than driving a Smart sized car.
At first glance I thought it was a smart car, but it is some kind of Volkswagen. Either way it is a small car and somebody messed up on the road.
There's a torso...in the back seat.
Yes in the driver's seat is spinal column and you can see blood splatter and smearing in the back seat. I keep thinking about physics here and how many people who hop behind the wheel of a tiny car don't thinking about what can happen.
Ouch.
I bet that hurt.
And there you have the reason why you should not drive a Smart Car or any other sub-sub-compact car in the United States or any other country with a large high speed highway system. The money you save in small ass car just isn't worth it. ]
Friday, May 07, 2010 8:52 PM
Wow. This is why I don't like driving in traffic, even in my mom's Accord. You never know what's next, and even a big car can still be a deathtrap. You can't just put small cars on the road and hope for the best. And this is the problem with America, nobody ever sees the big picture. The lawmakers want one goal, figure out how to get it, and then ignore every other consequence of that action. This is why engineers and scientists need to run the world, NOT lawyers and accountants.
Friday, May 07, 2010 9:18 PM
I don't think any car is going to fair to well head on with a big truck like that. why was he driving nekkid though?
Saturday, May 08, 2010 3:43 AM
Sorry Eric, I have to disagree on this one. 1st. Kei cars in Japan are 660 cc max. 2nd. Most American's freeway have 65 MPH limit, that translates to about 105 Km/h. In most European countries (and in Japan) the speed limit is 120 Km/h (about 75 MPH). Americans (generally speaking) don't know how to drive. That is because the DMV fuck-heads don't test for shit. There is little to no-learning curve as far as I'm concerned. In Europe and in Japan, there are 4 tests to take BEFORE getting behind the wheel (written, mandatory lessons, CPR, and driving).....that shows how much the Japanese/ European governments care about safety. #'s of accidents are also much fewer, comparing to the US. Europeans/ Japanese (again, generally speaking) drive much safer at higher speed than Americans, and if you consider that the streets in Japan/ Europe do not have ONE WAY traffic roads, that makes it even more scary, yet they're doing just fine. Americans are obsessed with stupid-huge SUV and ridiculous trucks. One thing is using these vehicles because YOU need it: towing, carpenter work, lumber, construction-company and so forth. Another is to carry around stupid kids from a soccer practice. The other scenario is the wannabe-thugs, who does it to impressed the general public and show off how much wealth he/ she has = LAME (the truth is, they don't know any better). In Europe/ Japan station-wagons do just fine for families....here in the US people are fat and can't fit into a Benz.....thus the Escalade.... To each his own I guess. (BTW, I have French, German, Swiss and Japanese driver licences). Just my .02
Saturday, May 08, 2010 4:54 AM
JDMized has a good point, the drivers elsewhere are much better than us. Could it be that this accident was caused by careless driving (the road looks pretty small, maybe he went to pass another car and BAM! semi in the other direction). I still think Eric's point is totally right, even an SUV vs. a Smart Car won't end very well. An Expedition is like 3 tons right? That's a lot of momentum to stop.
Saturday, May 08, 2010 6:15 AM
I live in Japan and have driven 1000s of km on the highways. I have never seen the posted speed limit higher than 90/km. Most large cities in Japan are so congested that driving over 100km/hr is impossible. In the right lane(fastest lane) people drive 120-130. But kei-cars can't keep up that pace at all. So I have rarely seen a kei-car in the fastest lane, except to pass a slower (slightly) truck. In Japan, driving etiquette is much better than in the US. Once you pass a slower car, you move back into the left lane. City roads are narrow and blind corners are frequent so drivers often yield for each other. Japan has much better driving etiquette than the US.
Saturday, May 08, 2010 9:02 AM
I personally think the US needs to tighten up license standards, and not just move up the minimum age, because I think that creates more problems than it solves. The test should no longer have questions about how to indicate with your hands (something I've seen maybe 4 times in 6 years of driving) and do more with what lane you should be in, and how to properly avoid accidents. I'd like to see driving classes teach people proper car control. Maintenance should be covered too, 3 times I've been enveloped in think impenetrable oily fog as some guys car shits a piston out the tailpipe on an on-ramp. Possibly a tiered system. I don't think the idiots that don't have the gumption to take it to the track would put in the work for a higher level license, so it keeps the state's pockets full with those speeding tickets and fix-it tickets while giving the option for drivers to drive at sensible speeds on I-5 legally.
Saturday, May 08, 2010 11:33 AM
I completely agree with JDMized, the U.S. requirements for getting a license is way too easy. The test to see if you can drive is a joke performed in a parking lot, and all they really care about is that you have insurance, so that when you do wreck, it covers the damages. Of course, because these kids can move a car at 20 m.p.h. in a parking lot, they go off panicking in a situation they are not familiar with, and more than likely crash and die (I'm being negative, but it does happen). I also hate the fact that with the gross use of automatic transmissions in the states, it is almost rare to find people who REALLY know how to drive a manual. Do you know how many people driving manuals rev-match on their down-shifts? Not 100%, and I think that is wrong!
Saturday, May 08, 2010 1:11 PM
I prefer passive safety (small, nimble automobile capable of avoiding accidents) to active safety (heavy, large, ponderous automobile destined for an accident the occupants will probably survive). The one-upmanship of buying/requiring a larger and larger car to survive an increasingly unbalanced-in-their-favor collision forces the whole world to drive tanks.
Saturday, May 08, 2010 6:55 PM
You guys are going way to far thinking skills are the problem. 1/2 of drivers I see are talking on the phone. Another 1/8th are texting or reading email I saw a woman in a hummer a few weeks back, smoking and talking on her sell phone a the same time. I actually exited the road for a few minutes to create clearance with that idiot. If people would simply not talk on phones not text drive with 2 hands on the wheel not blast through busy intersections at 50 + mph leave at least 1 (or more) car lengths with car in front of them I bet the accident rate would go down by over 50% That said I agree with the premise Smart cars make no sense especially on the highway. Final point: I have avoided being rear ended at least 3 X by always withuot exception leaving 1+ car lenghts between me and car in front at stoplights. + if you live in a dangerous area it's easy to flee a kidnapping if someone tries to pin you in.
Saturday, May 08, 2010 11:17 PM
JDMized, that is an interesting take on Americans and big cars. You might want to ease up a little though. It sounds like you hate kids, families, rappers, people who like to show off their status and fat Americans. 1. My bad, yes Kei cars are under 660cc. Technically 660cc is under 1000cc (what I accidentally typed), but I know what you mean. My distance from the JDM world has made me to forget this. Anyhow thanks, I'll change it shortly. 2. I have never seen 120km/h speed limits in Japan and I have driven in many different parts of the country. All I am saying is that in any country that has large highways driving a small car is pretty dangerous since large highways inevitably result in high traffic speeds. I agree that US DMV fuck heads don't test for shit. On top of that you know a country has lame DMVs when they give written tests in 26 different languages, but the street signs are only written in one. If the signs are in English, the test should be in English. No exceptions. I think Spike_Spiegel explains my point a bit better than I do when I use Japan as an example. In Japan on the surface streets, you simply cannot get up to the speeds you would in America. As an example, the main street through a mostly residential city, Irvine, CA, (Culver Drive) the speed limit is 55mph. It not uncommon for cars to go 75mph on a surface street through Irvine and parts of Orange County, CA. This does not happen in Japan. Sure driver skill and attention have a lot to do with it, but shit happens anywhere on the planet. Somewhere in the world a big car will get involved in an accident with a small car. I'm just saying that in countries with large highway systems where traffic speeds are inevitably high, the guy in the small car will simply be SHIT OUT OF LUCK. You can disagree all you want, but then you're basically disagreeing with with the laws of physics.
Sunday, May 09, 2010 9:50 PM
In this kind of accident, a person with a more normal sized midsize car(Accord or Camry) would probably fare dead as well when hitting such a large truck that is going in the opposite way. In fact, even if the occupants were in an suv, they would probably not fare well and be dead anyways. This is a really big accident, and I would not blame the small car for the horrible result. Almost any sized car would fare the same in my opinion. Yes, in slower speed crashes a midsize car will be impacted less, but at the same time in a slower speed crash people in a small car would be less affected as well. There is a difference in safety between big and small cars, but I do not think that the safety difference means life or death. If you die in a crash in a small car, chances are the crash was severe enough to kill you in a big car as well.
Monday, May 10, 2010 1:04 AM
Another one of those chain mails with a completely irrelevant title attached. But anyways, I agree with 538. Being in a bigger car probably wouldn't have made a big difference. The car it seems like was hit above the bumper and tore off like a tin can. Hit somewhere where it was not designed to.
Monday, May 10, 2010 1:05 AM
PS: Those pictures are old, I remember seeing them quite a few years ago, before the whole "cellphone and texting behind the wheel" campaign.
Monday, May 10, 2010 6:32 AM
The one problem America has with tightening the driving laws is the fact that we still leave the States in charge of creating the laws and inspections. Sure there are a few National standards, but for the most part driving laws are written by the States, so they can do pretty much whatever they want. The first step to creating safer roads would be to Nationalize the system. Then raise the fines for all infractions much higher, especially the fines for not having a license, insurance, or registraion. In Delaware, the maximum fine for not having insurance is only $2000. that's less than what I pay for insurance for my 240SX! I could save a couple hundred dollars by not having the insurance if I only get caught once a year (I"ve never been pulled over in the 240. I could have saved $5000 for riding dirty). If the fines are much higher, then people are encouraged to drive smarter. Money changes minds, and the people still stupid enough to get caught would fluff up the treasury- reduce the National debt! Where's the loss? Oh wait, we would be "infringing on our freedoms." I have the right to be alive, why shouldn't the jackass tailgating and weaving in and out of traffic be allowed to take that from me? The first line of every Driver's Ed book says driving is a privilege and not a right. But our don't back that up. "Do as I say, not as I do" doesn't work on 5 year olds, how the shit do you think it's going to work on adults???
Monday, May 10, 2010 8:59 AM
I don't exactly remember but I think the smart car has pretty good crash injury numbers for the 35 MPH offset barrier test. I drove one and hated it. It was weird handling and driving and felt about as safe as a motorcycle.
Monday, May 10, 2010 10:03 AM
Yeah I saw a youtube video where they crashed a Smart into a concrete barrier at 70 MPH and the passenger compartment was so well preserved the door would still open and close, So the driver wouldn't have been crushed to death. The g force of the crash on the other hand...
Monday, May 10, 2010 10:34 AM
I have no experience with crash testing, but I'm thinking that if the semi collided with an SUV, that the SUV would have fared MUCH better. Now I'm not saying everybody should go out and get an SUV. I'm thinking because of an SUV's much higher vehicle height it would have had the bumper, core support, frame rails, front end sheet metal, engine, and therefore most of the drive train to absorb the impact. A small car like the Smart or VW in the pictures above would just go underneath the semi. Notice that the floorboard and center console are still there. The semi's grill/bumper/engine assembly basically took out everything from the windshield and up. The semi's tires pretty much crushed everything below the windshield.
Monday, May 10, 2010 1:46 PM
^^^ Yep, and the SUV would've been more likely to bounce off. Once it goes underneath, there's nowhere to go. BTW, the car in question here is a VW Crossfox: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/VW_Crossfox.jpg I see them all the time here in San Diego with Front B.C. plates on them. BTW, one of the biggest problems here, IMO, is the roads aren't the safest thing for 70mph traffic. You have wildly differing speeds (45-50mph to 80+mph) on the freeways, and 99.99999% of the intersections in the US are 90*, making the crashes the most violent. In Europe/Japan, you've got more congested traffic, so the chances of seeing huge velocity delta crashes like this are smaller, and since Europe uses a lot more roundabouts, you don't have cars colliding at the worse possible angles (head on or 90*). If someone spaces out and charges into a roundabout, they're going to see the gigantic fountain/planter/whatever in the middle and turn with traffic, mitigating the difference in velocity vectors. In the US, if someone spaces out, they're going to hit a stopped car or cross traffic at ludicrous speed, giving you over 6 minutes of YouTube collision glory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qvXbIenivk
Monday, May 10, 2010 2:09 PM
After some googling, I found out that while the smart cars and small cars out there did fare well in simulated crash tests against walls, they fared poorly in crash tests against big cars. Sadly you can't always be 100% risk free while driving out there. When in a small car you always run the risk of a big car hitting you. I worry about getting hit sometimes when I drive my miata, which I feel is also less safe due to the lack of a metal roof structure. At the same time, I try not to let my fear get in the way of the enjoyment of driving, and I dont think an SUV would feel anywhere near as fun to drive. I see the points people make, but at the same time I'm willing to take the risk. Maybe I am just young, but I try not to let remote chances like these scare me from driving the car that I like or from riding my motorcycle around. Ultimately, if everyone would move to bigger cars, then one day, a chevy suburban size car would be considered small, and it would crash into something the size of a tank, and people would consider the suburban dangerous, and an argument would arise for people needing to drive cars the size of tanks to be safe. There will always be a bigger car out on the road with a terrible driver behind the wheel.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 4:16 PM
True. If everybody went out and bought the biggest car available for crash protection, there would be no more petroleum by 2020. A lot of "normal" people get into small cars not understanding what can happen in a situation like small car vs. big car. I think it areas with high speeds and large highways, vehicle size and mass should play a part in your buying decision. Would you walk into a gunfight with no flak jacket?
Sunday, May 30, 2010 10:56 PM
It all comes down to energy dissipation. A longer front-end will absorb more energy in the event of a crash, plain and simple. The Smart Car has a strong structure, but the deceleration on the human body has a finite limit. Energy is transferred one way or another, and a small car transfers more energy to the occupant than a large car. There is no way around it. I'm leaving the lower H-brace off my street car because I'd like my engine to drop in an accident and not cut my legs off. In similar fashion, I'm using a bumper beam unlike most turbo nuts.
 
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