"With just two seats, it’s the perfect car for the friendless. And you don’t have to be nice and offer people rides."

 This is the perfect car for the socially challenged.

I'm not against two-seaters. I thought the 427 AC Cobra was the greatest road machine ever!

However...
that's not what this is. What it IS is a death trap. The quiet little statistic the Old Media keeps burying is that as fuel economy has gone up, so have traffic death rates per crash. Cars made of plastic don't do well in crashes. Little bitty cars do not do well in crashes. This one scores well in both those categories.

In general, liberals and dunces will buy these things. Then they'll die. What's the downside?

My boss has one of these, and it is not as large as you think. You sit over the back axle, and the back bumper is almost touching the tire. If you lean your head back it will hit the rear window. A fender bender could prove fatal. A semi would never know it hit you.

On second thought, maybe all liberals should be forced to drive one. ;)

Is this car more eco-friendly than if I were to drive an SUV with 4 people in it?

*****

"Why would the library ban a book like The Six Bunny-Wunnies Freak Out?" - Linus Van Pelt

At least that’s what Daimler (the Mercedes-Benz folks)...

-Okay, right off the bat we realize we are dealing with Newstweakazoids, as they have to be told that Daimler is Mercedes. Definitely not dealing with car-people here.

But can a car not much bigger than a golf cart make a dent in SUV-loving America?

-Don't know about putting a dent in an SUV, but this thing couldn't put a dent in my car if it were to t-bone it outright at an intersection.

--While driving a Smart car, it might also be a really good idea to avoid not only SUV's, but shopping carts and stray strollers, too.

The French-built Smarts come rolling off container ships in January.

-Self-explanatory, that is.

..we should all be getting smaller,

-Says who?

Any time you’re hit by an SUV it’s a dangerous situation. It doesn’t matter what you’re driving.

-So, I have the choice of getting hit by an SUV in a Smart car, or getting hit by one while sitting in my current car, which tips the scales at a hefty 5,000 lbs. with me, a passenger and a full fuel load aboard. No-brainer, there.

..so this also allows crash energy to be absorbed underneath the car.

-Great, so when I get nailed by an SUV, I get launched into the air. What fun that will be.

...four front airbags...

-Ahh, eight would be better.

..electronic brake-force distribution that helps the car stop fast.

-Not as fast as impacting an SUV.

Actually, it’s the perfect car for teenagers.

-Only if the parents decides to finally go through with the abortion they had thought about sixteen years earlier but could't afford at the time.

Smart is light, just 1,750 pounds..

-Hell, I bet the four doors on my '81 Mercedes S-Class sedan weigh more.

..and we’re seeing about 40 mpg combined city and highway driving,

What sort of suicidal idiot would ever drive such a vehicle on a real Amurrican highway?

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In all honesty, if I lived and worked in-town, and could afford it, I might consider this as a second car. But, I would never drive it anywhere but on the surface streets of Atlanta.

I can just envision the carnage on Atlanta's inner-city interstates in future rush hours, as hordes of rescue personel are dispatched twice daily, shop-vacs at the ready, to suck up the hair, teeth and eyeballs that will no-doubt be scattered all over the freeways of Atlanta.

It ain't gonna be pretty.

When I'm president, privatization is off the table because it's not the answer to anything.-Hillary Rodham, September 3, 2007 AARP Legislative Conference.

I've been watching the smart car since it first came out... 10 years? or so ago. It was built totally with safety in mind and decked out unlike small American cars at the time. I was very impressed with the car and have hoped to see one. I believe its gas milage was much better than either the Prius or that Honda thing... in fact the diesel model approached 90 miles/gallon.
Sure it's not your daddy's Oldsmobile, but it would fit very nicely in my garage behind my Honda Helix scooter.
One more thing... I've driven 75 miles to work every day for 28 years (in a van that gets 20 mpg). If the good Lord decides it time to come home I don't think it'll matter whether you're in a Smart Car or a big dumb one.

In  1993 we got run over, on I-49, by a semi in Louisiana while in a Geo Metro.  He didn't even know that he had ground us into the pavement (seatbelts work).  Another trucker radioed him to pull over.  Now I drive a Ford F-150 Supercab and my wife drives an SUV.  I have seen these Smart cars on the road and they are a bad joke.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Pretty cool crash tests... and again i'm impressed with the smart car's performance. At least they won't have to cut your body out. I'm not saying i'd like to drive it across country, but for an urban car it would be terrific... and it's a hellofalot safer than my scooter. I'll bet every weekend I ride someone cuts me off or makes a left in front of me.... Which reminds me... I'm seeing a lot of Smart Car put downs, but nobody putting down Harleys or any bike for that matter. Here in Missouri I often read of middle-age guys dying on Harleys. Maybe they should be in Smart Cars!