The 2009 smart fortwo reportedly has the “strongest roof” among competing micro and mini cars, according to research released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
The IIHS tested roof strength, and the smart fortwo was the only vehicle to achieve the highest rating of Good in its class. The smart fortwo also tested higher than all but one of the 13 small SUVs previously tested by IIHS, according to information from the carmaker. Roof strength is the most important vehicle attribute for protecting occupants in a rollover crash, IIHS reports.
“If you’re considering a small car, the smart fortwo is the answer when it comes to safety,” says Dave Schembri, President of smart USA. “As our society increasingly turns to small cars, smart proves that small can be safe. This is the ninth standardized crash test performed by either the federal government or the IIHS that confirms the smart fortwo is safe.”
According to the IIHS, the smart fortwo withstood a force of 5.4 times its weight during the tests, and far exceeded the minimum required force ratio of four times the vehicle’s weight to earn a Good rating. The IIHS reports that a vehicle in the Good category has 50 percent less risk of serious or fatal injury in a single-vehicle rollover crash. As IIHS makes clear, when it comes to roof strength for rollover protection, lightweight vehicles can fare better because “their roofs don’t have to work as hard to keep the structure around the occupants intact…”
In addition, the smart fortwo already exceeds the new federal roof strength requirements that will not start phasing in until 2012, with all vehicles needing to comply by 2016, the vehicle's maker reports. Engineers designed the smart to be a trendsetter in safety of small cars, with a high level of standard technologies that eclipse federal mandates. The smart fortwo’s tridion safety cell, which surrounds and protects vehicle occupants, is a reinforced steel cage that acts like a race car roll cage, and is the primary reason the smart fortwo performed so well in the IIHS roof strength test.
The 2009 smart fortwo also comes equipped with electronic stability program (esp®) as standard. According to the IIHS, vehicles with esp® are 20 percent less likely to be in a fatal accident with another vehicle and 51 percent less likely to be in a fatal single-vehicle accident.
For more information, visit www.smartusa.com.
