MINICAR SAFETY

Smaller cars carry a bigger risk in a common and deadly type of crash.  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) ran front end crash tests on 11 small & mini cars.  The cars hit a barrier with the front driver’s side corner at 40 MPH.  This simulated clipping another car head-on or hitting a tree or pole. None of the vehicles tested received the highest rating of “good.”  Only the Chevrolet Spark received a passing grade of “Acceptable.”  The worst performer was the Honda FIT which received a rating of “poor.”   Besides the Fit, here are other cars that were also rated “poor” (from lowest to highest score): Fiat 500, Hyundai Accent, Toyota Prius C, Nissan Versa and Mitsubishi Mirage.   Some cars received a “marginal” rating and they are as follows:  Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio and Mazda 2. 

 

 

Chevy Spark was the only tiny car to get an

acceptable rating in the new IIHS crash tests.

 

Although the Spark received the rating of “Acceptable” it does not protect occupants as well as larger, heavier vehicles with the same rating, IIHS said.  Minicars can weigh more than 1,500 pounds less than the average model made for the 2013 model year, preliminary federal data show.

 Small, lightweight vehicles have an inherent safety disadvantage, “Joe Nolan, IIHS senior president for vehicle research, said in a statement.  “Unfortunately, as a group, minicars aren't performing as well as other vehicle categories in the small overlap crash.