The Lemon Law Blog

The Smart ForTwo car is now being sold in by Mercedes-Benz dealers. The tiny car has met with mixed reviews. After the driver's door opened during a side-impact test, the U.S. federal safety agency opened an investigation. The investigation followed a New York Times blog post that includes a video of a Smart car hitting a barrier at 70 mph. The car remained intact, but a door popped open (www.wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/smart-crash test/).

Separately, in early April 2008, an Automotive News reviewer said the Smart 1.0 liter, 70 hp three-cylinder engine had poor acceleration, the five-speed automated manual transmission makes the car rock back and forth as the driver shifts gears, and on the highway the driver must constantly tug the steering wheel left or right to keep going straight.On the other hand, they are exceedingly easy to park!

Posted by Mark F. Anderson | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Auto Safety , Buying New Cars , New Car Safety

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To select a safe car or truck, buyers should review the Insurance Institute for Highway Institute reports. The Institute website makes its findings on cars, trucks and baby seats easily accessible.

In April 2008, the Institute released its side impact crash results on midsize cars. Overall, the study shows that small cars are more dangerous than large cars. Occupants of the smallest cars are about 51 percent more likely to be killed in a crash than those in midsize or large cars.

When it comes to frontal crash tests, "good" ratings on small cars only means they are safer than another small car with a lower rating. They are not necessarily safer than a large car with a lower rating. But side-impact crash tests are different. The impact comes from a ram that strikes the car. Because the stricking force is the same for each test it is possible to compare vehicles of different sizes. This leads to some surprising results in the side-impact tests--the small Honda Fit has a higher rating than a 2008 Ford Crown Victoria.

Posted by Mark F. Anderson | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Auto Safety , New Car Safety

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The National Highway Safety Administration ("NHTSA") is the agency that is supposed to regulate auto manufacturers to improve highway safety. For many years, however, the agency has done little or nothing to ensure highway safety; its actions are more in tune with protecting the auto industry than the public. For example, some years ago, the agency failured to warn consumers that Firestone tires on 1991 to 2001 Ford Explorers were prone to blow out and cause roll-over accidents.

Reacting to that failure, in 2000, Congress enacted a law to address the agency's failure to spot safety-related defects in cars, trucks, and tires. The law, known as the Transportation, Recall Enchancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act ("TREAD") directed the NHTSA to report all consumer complaints, warranty payments, and field reports in the event of an injury or death involving a vehicle or tire defect.

However, for years NHTSA did nothing and then made things worse when it enacted regulations to gut the new law. The regulations allow the auto manufacturers to make the data confidential and unavailable to the public. No good reason exists except to protect the auto industry.

The agency has taken other steps to shut out the public and safety advocates from obtaining information on auto safety. The agency formerly had a public library with a great deal of information essential for evaluating the agency's activities. However, in 2006, the agency shut down the library for all practical purposes.

Continuing with its trend to secrecy, NHTSA will not allow journalists to interview the agency's safety experts, which is contrary to the practice going back 20 years. Chris Jensen of the NY Times covered this topic in the NY Times auto blog.

Posted by Mark F. Anderson | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Auto Safety

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