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NHTSA Crash Tests: Frontal and Side

4376 Views 20 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  quirkySquirt
Front:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv4_uqHM-gg

Side impact with pole:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oV2qnF87RI

I especially like that the window wipers are tested to make sure they work after the side impact. Whimsical.

Edit: Nevermind, looks like the wipers came on from the impact. Not as whimsical. Really digging the matte white interior, though.
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I am blown away the front windshield didn't even crack in that frontal crash! Shows how well the energy was dissipated and absorbed through the structure of the car.
Actually, the windshield did crack if you take a look at time 2:40 in the frontal crash video: https://youtu.be/kv4_uqHM-gg?t=160

Frontal crash test was very impressive. Door frames look fine. Occupants look fine. Side impact not bad as well. It would have been nice to see the footwell on the offset crash, since it looked compromised.
As Splitting Atoms pointed out, IIHS has more info, including photo of the front footwell: http://www.iihs.org/frontend/iihs/ratings/images/api-rating-image.ashx?id=4084&width=800

I agree that the A pillar thickness is an acceptable trade off and that the safest vehicle is one that doesn't get in crashes. However, I think the A-pillar thickness is one I can mitigate by bobbing my head about. The A-pillar really only makes thin-profile pedestrians difficult to see. A small oncoming SmartCar is not concealed by the A-pillar (tested plenty when driving through downtown Seattle, so many of those freakin' smartcars) both when oncoming and when they make right-hand turns into my lane. I can see them just fine without needing to bob my head around the A-pillar.

I like the added crash safety for the bad drivers I have no control over. Like the one today on the phone and messing with their GPS in downtown Seattle, going 20mph in a 35mph bus lane, holding up both the bus and the cars behind it trying to make a right-hand turn (bus lanes can be used for right hand turns near an intersection and are marked so).
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Looks like a new side test with a simulated car hitting the Volt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvNJkTtV7Ak

Maybe not so good an idea to rest your arm on the window sill. Resting on the arm rest looks to be okay.
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