Minicars fall short for small overlap frontal crash protection (IIHS)

[wdb]

Only 1 minicar out of 11 tested achieves an acceptable rating in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's small overlap front crash test, making these tiny vehicles the worst performing group of any evaluated so far.

IIHS News Release

2nd generation Honda Fit is one of the worst.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bdydHzCO5s

[RedDevil]

That is a very specific kind of collision, hitting a hard and straight edged wall at the perimeter of the car.
Which may happen if you hit a house, square pillar or shipping container or such.
In collisions with other cars the forces get distributed differently, it may yield a different result. In all likelyhood it will get pushed sideways somewhat reducing the structural damage.

It would be relatively easy to adapt for these kind of collisions, for instance by strengthening the corners as to divert the impact over a wider front section.
However that may have a negative impact on the ability to handle other types of collisions.
If this kind of collision does not occur very often, testing for it may force car manufacturers to build cars that are less safe in a general perspective.

Collision testing must be a mix of all kinds of collisions, to avoid the risk that car manufacturers build cars specifically designed to handle just the tested collisions well and fail miserably in other aspects.

Collisions with fixed objects are a bit suspect, as the presence of those is a road safety issue. You should not encounter those on a safely built road.
There will always be other road users so collision testing with other vehicles is a must.

[MetroMPG]

Note: the small overlap test is relatively new, and many models tested were designed before the test was introduced.

You can bet the next generation models (e.g. 2015 Fit) will do better.

[Frank Lee]

How does the group do on collision avoidance tests?

[CFECO]

These tests are to show what happens in an offset, head on collision I believe.

[CFECO]

Depends, were the drivers Texting?

[PaleMelanesian]

Sad to see how my Fit did. STill, it's worth noting that it's the oldest car in the list, and the top-scoring Chevy is the newest. I expect the new Fit to do well like the recently introduced Civic and Accord have.

I believe it's intended to mimic when you run off the road and nearly but not quite miss a tree or post. I can see that happening.

[Ryland]

Smaller cars are also much easier to avoid hitting solid objects and other vehicles while larger, wider vehicles have a much smaller margin of error.

[P-hack]

Seriously, that is at least half the missing story here. A slight offset crash on a SUV is a complete miss in a small car. Plus less mass can change directions easier.

[user removed]

My parents had an Accord (1977) and a Mercury Montego. The day they dodged a head on (other driver drunk) they chose the Accord. I wonder if they would be here 30 years later if they had chose the Montego. The drunk was in a Cadillac, caught shortly later.
92 and 87 now thanks to that 1977 Accord that I rebuilt with 13k miles.

regards
mech