May 14th, 2008 by Liz Opsitnik
The ultra-compact Smart ForTwo car is so tiny that many wondered how it would hold up in a massive crash. Well, the ForTwo has passed the safety tests with good grades.
It earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s highest rating, good, in front and side impact crash tests. The car’s seats and head restraints earned the second-highest rating, acceptable, for rear impact whiplash protection.
Here’s the limitation on the safety tests’ results though. While the frontal tests do a good job of replicating a crash against a fixed object, there’s no telling exactly how a big, heavy SUV or truck combined with a high speed would affect the Smart car in a crash.
The Smart ForTwo is the smallest car sold in the U.S. at almost nine feet long and as the name says, it only seats two people. While there’s not much to the car, it encompasses a high-strength cell around the driver and passenger, reports USA Today, and relies on the seat belts and air bags to protect its passengers.