A Smart shell

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2006

EasyPark, one of the major public parking companies in Vancouver, offers a 50% rebate to environment-friendly cars. All hybrids get the discount which has just been extended to Smart Cars.

Yeah, but Smart Cars… I can see some heads shaking. I wouldn’t want to be sitting in one of those when another real car or a SUV smashes into it!

Well check out this video of a crash test. The Smart Car driving at 70 mph (or 110 km/h) collides head on with a cement wall. You’ll be amazed at how well the frame resists the impact. Both doors still open after the crash and one even closes back perfectly!

Now there’s no guarantee that the human cargo would be as intact as the container after such a thing but with the help of airbags and seat belts, this is as good as what any other car will do for you, and we are talking about urban driving.

René Barjavel had a smart (pardon the pun) and very funny line about this in Ravage, talking about a new train car (it’s in French, I’m afraid):

« Celui-ci était fait d’une seule pièce de plastec, moulé sous pression. Cette matière remplaçait presque partout le verre, le bois, l’acier et le ciment. Transparente, elle livrait aux regards des voyageurs tout le ciel et la terre. Dure et souple, elle réduisait au minimum les risques d’accident. Quelques mois auparavant, elle avait fait la preuve de ses qualités. Entre Paris et Berlin, un wagon se décrocha dans un virage, percuta contre une usine, abattit cinq murs, rebondit et se planta, la pointe en l’air, dans un toit. Les voyageurs qu’on en retira ne possédaient plus un os d’entier. Quelques-uns en réchappèrent et se firent mettre des os en plastec. Le wagon n’avait subi ni fêlure ni déformation, ce qui montrait l’excellence de sa fabrication. Ce n’était pas la faute de la Compagnie si les contenus s’étaient avérés moins résistants que le contenant. »
René Barjavel, Ravage.

Posted at 2:53 PM in Bits and pieces: & Cool:

1 Comments

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1 - Anonymous says:

« En tant que contenu, je préfère ma Honda.
En tant que contenant, je m’aimerais beaucoup en Smart. »
Date of comment: 2006-11-01 20:07 •

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