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Super small cars are best if you don't have regular backseat passengers. |
| By Molly Snyder Edler OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Molly Snyder Edler |
| Published June 26, 2008 at 3:54 p.m. |
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I am hoping to ditch my gas-glugging Jeep Cherokee and buy a smaller, used car this summer. Initially, I thought I wanted a Honda Fit, Pontiac Vibe or Toyota Matrix (which is basically The Vibe), but after doing a bunch of research, I'm starting to reconsider these tiny cars.
Sure, the gas mileage is amazing, but because I have two kids who would ride in the backseat, I am questioning the safety of driving something with so little junk in the trunk. (Even though I joke with friends that my mothering motto is "safety last," I am hyperactive when it comes to their well bring.)
If I didn't have kids, I would be all over these small cars, because they make sense on so many levels, and they are affordable, too. However, although the safety rating for the driver and front passenger are excellent -- especially in the Fit -- the rear ratings for most of these small fry rides received a "poor."
For me, it's difficult to gage how much of a risk it really is to drive a very compact car. Are Americans brainwashed by the belief that mammoth cars mean safety? Could it be that some of the warnings against driving small cars are so we'll consume more fuel? Europeans drive much smaller cars, but then again, I have not researched their death rates compared to ours.
Despite my posed questions, I am actually feeling very solid in my thoughts. It boils down to the fact that, as a parent, you do what you can do to keep kids safe. Common sense tells me that if one of these clown cars got rear-ended by an SUV, it wouldn't be pretty.
Sure, saving on gas is important, especially for families like mine who feel the impact of the rising costs of food and fuel, but, obviously, sparing a few bucks at the pump isn't worth it if something happens to one of my kids. It would be just another example of trading blood for oil.
I am not exactly going to buy a mini van, but now, I'm researching the slightly larger vehiceles, like the Subaru Impreza. Any thoughts on this ride?
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3 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review. |
Posted by belle123 on June 27, 2008 at 11:59 a.m. (report)
Personally I love my Honda Fit! It has the side curtain air bags and great safety features - seen here: http://automobiles.honda.com/fit/safety.aspx I also have to agree with Dusty Bottoms...it's not that small. And it gets great gas mileage!
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Posted by Dusty_Bottoms on June 26, 2008 at 5:16 p.m. (report)
I believe the '09 Vibe has full side-curtain airbags, backseat included. But seriously, the cars you named really aren't that small. Compared to a Cherokee or an SUV, yes. But compare them to, say, a Chevette or an 80's vintage Datsun B210, or even a Geo Metro, and they're practically mid-size. And if somebody smashes into you hard enough to seriously injure somebody in the back seat, chances are the same thing would happen in a bigger car or an SUV.
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Posted by MadTownGuy on June 26, 2008 at 4:29 p.m. (report)
Small car safety ratings can be misleading, because many of them are done on cars that don't have side curtain airbags. Granted, they won't help you in a rearend collision, but most crashes are offset (head on on one side of the car or the other) or side-impact. My wife drives a Mazda3 that didn't get spectacular results for rear passengers when it was first tested becuase the model tested wasn't equipped with side curtain airbags. When the test was repeated with side airbags, the ratings were near perfect.
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