Citation

No Author(s) Listed. Accid. Reconstr. J. 2009; 19(6): 24-25.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Accident Reconstruction Journal)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article extends the crashworthiness studies of certain small cars by testing them in collisions with other vehicles that earn the same crashworthiness ratings and that are manufactured by the same automaker. The authors note that most crashworthiness ratings are determined from offset collisions into deformable barriers. However, a more-realistic front-to-front collision can provide information about the safety consequences of vehicle size and weight. The article reports on a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in which a Honda Fit was crashed into a Honda Accord, a Smart Fortwo into a Mercedes C class, and a Toyota Yaris into a Toyota Camry. These tests of paired cars reflect the physics of crashes, confirming that bigger, heavier cars are safer than their minicar counterparts. The article briefly summarizes the findings of the crash tests. Readers are referred to the Institute's website for consumer information about crashworthiness test ratings (iihs.org/ratings).