As a person who survived 70 MPH crash on a motorway, in my Smart car, which rolled over 6 times after the crash, I can say, Smart cars are very safe.

Was the passenger wearing seatbelts? That Smart didn't look all that bad.

Oh please! That woman was a old lady. She died of natural causes from a pre existing condition. That car was just about fully intact with the safety cage

The rear seats are NOT up against the back window.

If this was a corvette or Miata would they have investigated it, noooooo, some people look for any reason to say the Smart is unsafe, I bet these same people won't get on a motorcycle either...

how is this news? rather than doing research by filing a request for those crash results, they have some guy yack about what he's heard or seen online

I was in a accident with my Smart. Guy in front of me slammed on breaks to avoid hitting someone. I broke in time but it was close. However the lady behind me didn't. Or the guy behind her. So my little smart got pinned between two cars and a third (a Lexus SUV) gave it one more good crack. At the end.. I drove my smart home and have been driving it ever since with no problem(just a ugly dent in the front and a ripple of plastic in the rear). The guy in front of me had a dent in his rear bumper. the Buick Riv that hit me had some damage to the front and was pretty messed up rear end. The SUV was totaled and was removed from the scene on a flatbed. This was at highway speeds. The firemen and tow truck guy that showed up were joking with me saying your car got hit so hard it smooshed down to a little car. I'm just happy I wasn't riding my Motorcycle.

sandwiched? there isn't any damage to the front

I've had a 2011 smart for 4 years now. I T-Boned a car when it pulled out in front of me. Totaled his car, I drove away. They are great cars, and I average 45 mpg. Very stable on the highway too. Its speed limited to 95mph. And handles great. I assume its the design, the rear wheels are spaced out wider then the rear. 3 cylinder rear engine, RWD, handles great in the snow! I was one of the only cars on the icy roads when atlanta had snowpocolypse a couple of years ago lol. I was passing trucks and SUV's left and right haha

they said it was sandwiched between two cars but the photo of it looked perfectly fine. Shouldn't it have been .... I don't know.... visibly damaged? good shot of it at 8sec... there's no damage to the front. Shouldn't there have been damage if it was squashed?

I was rear ended in a Smart Fortwo by a Chevy Silverado, and I was not on any of the seats, we were three people and i was in the "trunk", I had just a small backache afterwards and the car had very little damage only the trunk was struggling to open and close but the front bumper of the Silverado fell off. In the video there is no sight of the occupants area to have been crushed, the passenger seat looks like it is intact, I think that person died as a consequence of a previous injury and that crash just finished it

so, motorcycles. are safe? I've used both, and it is a game of chance, suv's are top heavy, trucks don't meet car crash standards, cut through the hype and lies, and drive with your head up, regardless of your choice. Driving is not a safe practise, but good driving habits will reduce the risk. Blaming a vehicle for the drivers folly's is absurd!

The car's safety cell did not look to be permeated. I think the passengers age and the fact that they were rear-ended played the biggest factor in this unfortunate accident. Elderly are often subjected to greater injuries especially in a rear-end crash. I agree with the motorcycle comment. Think about how many people use motorcycles a Ross the world everyday... I'd much rather have an accident in a Smart Car.

Do they realize that Mercedes Benz make these cars? Mercedes Benz are German. Germany has snow and ice in winter. They would not make a car that can't be driven in the winter if it is made in a country where it snows. That is just a stupid comment.

I had a 2007 Smart and was rear ended. I was going 45 mph and the driver that rear ended me was going 75 -80 mph. So this Randy guy gives bad advice. It was a 4 door Acura that hit me and it folded the front end right up totaling it. I in the other hand had a visible crack in the bumper and never even broke the tail lights or rear window. I had a small cut from flying debris and that was it. Also I live in MN and I am on my seventh all winter driving and it performs better than most two wheel drive cars especially on ice. 103,000 on my second Smart. A semi is two small if a train hits it, just as a motorcycle is too small if a Smart hits it. We all can't drive trains.

news are just saying she died but not saying about cause of death. if someone has a weak heart condition even in Rolls Royce phantom, they wont make it alive.

As with the previous comment, the car in the video is hardly damaged and the passenger was elderly. Hardly a fair case of evidence. Also their "expert" gave false data, saying the seat is against the rear window. We have a Smart Fourtwo, and there is a good 3 feet at least, well inside the safety cell. The "crushed like a can" video referenced is a situation where ANY car would have been totally screwed. It was a semi in the front and a semi in the back. News team trying to hype the story

They just mentioned at the end that the driver who rear ended them was 86 years old.. Why don't they cover more on that?? I'm not saying you shouldn't drive at that age but was that particular person fit to drive? A rear end can be fatal at high speeds in any car. If the driver who hit the smart car didn't react in time and was following too closely with to much speed then it is 100% his fault. No car would make a difference as the shock of the impact would do all the damage.

Smart car is extremely safe, but there will always be haters and nay-sayers

Recently the Smart Fortwo was rated as safe as a bigger vehicle. The 2012 has eight air bags. I consider the Smart Fortwo safe. I have a 2008 Smart Fortwo Pure.

Buddy should try driving a Smart Car in the winter, better then any SUV out there.

So what was the result of the investigation?

Before buying my 2016 Fortwo, I’d line lots of research. While it may be safe due to the rollcage, it does not prevent crushing and your legs if in a front end collision. That is a big oversight for the Fortwo. Due to it not causing death, it’s swept under the rug. But a huge safety concern. I still bought the car and I do love it. Only I keep a lot more distance between cars up front. I kinda like my legs and have a close relationship with them. Would hate to see them go. One thing I will add, it’s difficult to find an insurance company who will cover it. I get dropped all the time. Leaving me to look for another policy and having to drop more on start up costs. Basic insurance should be $35, but I’m not finding anything under $100 a month. Still haven’t found someone to insure it.

we have a 2008 and a 2014 smart cars and love them

the black smart that was doing dough nuts on the snow was defective because if the ESP and traction control would've been active there are no way you could do that and the car in the accident didn't seem to be damage much especially the passenger side

I have two choices... motorcycle or smart. In Minneapolis. The smart does fine in winter with snow tires on it. And they didn't mention if the passenger was wearing a seatbelt. The structure of the car appears to have held up well, but, like anything, accidents are never the same. Anything can happen. And I agree, my car is small, but I like my chances in it over my motorcycle, and I haven't died after 5+ years of driving one.

Don't you even know what the Trideon Safety Cell is? And that it was rated acceptable for whiplash protection?

Okthe passenger was 68 years old what did they die of because smart car looks intact. And a video that I think rhat guy is referencing showing the smart car being crushed to about the size of 2' wide is a video where they took a first generation smart car and ran into a barrier at 70 miles an hour .... Not many cars are gonna look great when you smash into a concrete barrier at 70 miles an hour. The only downside to smart cars that it is so light so if you are rear ended or hit by somebody they will knock you around like a pinball and they could possibly just drive away.

So anyone that thinks he saw a photo of a Smart crunched into a 2-foot wide piece of metal: Did you count the lug nuts? Smarts have 3. If the wheel had any other number of lug nuts. It's not a smart.

In Europe, the Smart 451 seems to have as good a safety record as most other small road vehicles (if you're that worried, drive a road train or a battle tanks). We've owned two as "2nd cars" (one of which is now a week old) and the other, we had for 8 years, both fitted with the 84 hp turbo donkey and wide wheels - vastly better than the 71 hp version. Other than being a bit more susceptable to cross-winds than other cars, it's great on our UK motorways (and our speed limit is 70 mph). In bad weather it feels as safe as our 2-year-old Mk 6 Golf GTI and certainly safer than the awful thing we ran when I lived in Maine (no names, no pack drill but it's suposed to be the US equivalent of Rolls Royce). We ended up trading it in for a Jaguar XF 4WD for its better road holding in winter. When it comes to the crunch (literally), when a small vehicle is hit by a big one, it will probably come off worse - but not always - really a matter of luck!!

All crashes are different as well as occupants, my mate was hit by a speeding police car and slammed into a tree in an original Mini, the car was a mangled wreck, he managed to get out and didnt have a scratch on him, you can trip over a grape and die .

What a load of BS this is. I drive my smart in the winter every year, i have never been stuck. I have actually helped pull a chevy S10 out of ditch with my smart car. seriously ! I was also rear ended in my smart car. I was at a full stop at a red light, hardly no damage to my car at all. some plastic parts broke off, but that's it. Also, the driver and passenger is not against the back of the car as this idiot says, go check it out for yourself! Looks like to me some negative press against smart cars to me. I guess the big oil companies don't want people getting 40 mpg city, and 52 mpg highway like I do.

Another opinion based report with so called evidence to wreck the Smarts reputation. The Smart did not look badly damaged and as the one guy in the reel was saying "the accident is still under investigation". Perhaps there was some other issue with the elderly woman in the car that may have caused her dying such as a weak heart. That guy Randy is certainly not a fan of the Smart car.

The seats are not up against the back glass and the safety cage is not steel it’s Trinian which is a alloy and later in their investigation they found the passenger was not wearing a seatbelt come on people stop picking on the little car

There are many hatch back modern cars where the back seats are very close to the rear of the vehicle and they don't have the smart cars safety features.

I still would like to see these cars on the road. I myself take risks on a motorcycle.

Randy is completely reporting biased, the Smart ForTwo comes standard with ESP to prevent spinning out out control, and it achieved a 4 star euroncap crash test rating. As for being crushed like a can, this is complete rubbish, there is no such video around. Please show me some evidence of this. And lastly the smart car seating does not go right to the back window. Yet again terrible information! The smart fortwo is as safe as it can be!!!

There's almost no space so if you crash you decelerate way too fast.

Smart simply the best car in this small class

What the difference motorcycle and smart cars

oh geez. OK. first, it's a Smart fortwo, NOT a "smart car." second, the car in the crash doesn't even look like it's been hit. 3rd, I was driving my smart last winter on an ice encrusted road with a layer of snow on top. I don't think the traction control even kicked in. in a collision to with two different sized vehicles, of course the other one will win. I drive a tractor trailer and would wipe out anyone in even the largest pickup or SUV. at a high enough speed, the impact alone would snap your neck. so what are you going to do? buy an army tank?

i don't understand. you get it, there's dangers, yeah. It's like getting a motorcycle, expect a bit safer. don't bust on a vehicle because it's not like the other cars. People be whack.

Smart car’s rule

I agree that this 'news story' is knida skewing the facts a bit. The one that really kills me is the snow spin out video. (ESP was disabled by the driver...) Seriously, if they can hack it on the ICE ROADS in CANADA, (search: 'ice road trucking in a smart') the car can do fine just about anywhere. It's a tragedy that this woman was killed, but I'd like to know just how fast the idiot who crashed into them was going. (Probably on the phone too like most drivers today...)

they would publish anything so that the smartcar sales drop.there are more than 5 million of them in the streets all over the globe and somebody doesn't like that.So they expect from a 2.7m car to act like an SUV but they say nothing for other similar size car that would have crashed in a much more ugly way.

I'd say the so called expert, Randy has probably never even so much as sat in a Smart car. As for driving them in winter, the video shown of the Smart car spinning is NOT, I REPEAT NOT something you can do unless you pull the ESP fuse from the fuse box. I've driven mine in very bad weather and it handled foot deep snow just fine. As for the TV channels opinions, well everyones got an opinion, just like everyones got an arsehole.

Smart Cars are safer than most vehicles on the road...

Your average American car weighs 300 tonnes and steers like a cow with diarrhea. The crash stats will never EVER include all those could-have-been crashes that the little car avoids. Smarts don't crash cos they are awesomely agile and you can actively avoid the collision.

Is is just me who noted that the car does not have damage on the passenger and driver area? Not even the windscreen is broken.... Or both side door glasses.... That "expert" has very little IQ...

smart car is my favorite car

No priuses have 5 star as well, don't lie. A smart car is a safe car and this news report is wrong on a lot of things. People at Mercedes, or Daimler are cleaver people, they wouldn't let much slip between their hands when it comes to safety.

I still think they are cute get good gas mileage and want one!

I guess other cars never experience fatalities. Sounds like a bunch of opinions to me.

Oh god

Is not for highway for id the city

They don't know safety at all.

those smart cars are some of the worst cars of all time

perhaps died from heart attack ,,,, and smart at the end will have a bad reputation .How many ppl died in Ford,Toyota,WV and so on .... and it's fine ,,,,

fifth gear crash tesyed this

Just because you spend a lot of money to accomplish a goal doesn't mean you succeed.

I have a smart, I love my smart. I can fit an entire shopping cart of groceries in the back of my car and my 70lb dog can lay down in the back with more than enough room for her. The engine is in the back of the car. This guy has absolutely no idea what he's talking about. Several people I've talk to with fellow smarts have gotten a smart again due to how they handled in a crash. Come on now, poor research, poor reporting.

never buy cabrio smarts -they are unsafe because the cell is not closed

they should be only use for test driving cars only!!!! smh damn wish i was governor

The smart car looks great in crash test this guy does not now what he is talking adout I thing he needs to shut up at get a new job dislike !!!!!!!!

0:30 - 0:40 LOL look behind the news reporter

That car is safe

why someone would drive those ugly things is beyond me. i would feel like i was driving a tampon with wheels.

its not a mercedes its produced by swatch (watch makers ) and mercedes. swatch company first aproached VW but they refused. mercedes tried to make it safe as possible but failed tragicaly a car that size that drives on roads with normal cars is a death trap it should have a top speed limited at 60klm/h and should be allowed only in golf courts or in closed areass not on public street

These people are idiots. They are just ignorant of these smart cars. I OWN one. I hit a deer with mine. no brakes. I was fine. Bought another. Ignore the ignorance. passenger probably wasnt wearing a seatbelt or something EDIT: example of ignorance is @1:55. The seats are nowhere near the back glass, blub. people drive them in the winter including myself. They are awesome in the snow. engine in the rear makes for great traction.