After being thoroughly put to the Euro NCAP safety test, Daimler’s new smart fortwo and forfour have been granted four stars by the European safety commission.
The Euro NCAP comission tested, among other models, the new smart fortwo and smart forfour and gave a clear verdict regading the level of safety offered by the urban car.
Therefore, both models received 4 stars based on their behaviour during crash-test sessions. According to the Euro NCAP report – and this is available for both the smart fortwo and forfour – the passenger compartment remained stable in the frontal impact.
Furthermore, dummy readings indicated good protection of the knees and femurs of the driver and passenger. Smart showed that a similar level of protection would be provided to occupants of different sizes and to those sat in different positions.
However, in the more severe side pole test, dummy readings of rib compressions highlighted weak chest protection, although the other areas remained well protected. The seats and head restraints provided good protection against whiplash injury in the event of a rear-end collision.
Regarding child safety, the forfour scored maximum points for its protection of the 1½ year dummy in the crash tests. Forward movement of the head of the 3 year dummy, which was placed in a forward-facing restraint, was not excessive but neck tensile forces were high and the loading on the chest was also marginally high.
In the side impact, both dummies were properly contained within the protective shells of their restraints, minimising the likelihood of dangerous head contact with parts of the vehicle interior.
Pedestrian protection is also a strong point for both smart models, as the bumper scored maximum points for the protection it offered to pedestrians’ legs, with good results recorded at all test locations. However, the protection offered by the front edge of the bumper to a pedestrian’s pelvis varied from poor to good.
To sum up, smart fortwo recorded a 82% rating for adult protection, 80% rating for child protection, 56% rating for pedestrian protection and 56% rating for safety assist.
Smart forfour manage to score a 78% rating for adult protection, 77% rating for child protection, 65% rating for pedestrian protection and 56% rating for safety assist.
