Mercedes-Benz Canada has also been running junkets designed to give the impression that the Smart performs as well in a crash with an E-Class sedan (1650 kg) and they've had considerable success with that.
Officially, however, Caza said, ''The smart car is designed to be as safe as possible as a small car. We're not saying it's safer than some big cars. What we're saying is that for a car that small it behaves really well.''
There's no questioning Smart's relative safety against other microcars, as the luxury German car maker has done an excellent job of building various safety systems into the two-seat vehicles. The most helpful aspect is the ''safety cell'' that serves as the vehicle's frame, which Caza describes as being like the ''hard shell that protects the nut inside.''
That would be useful for a Canadian consumer if there were other microcars available to buy and to run into, but there aren't. The next lightest new cars weigh about 1000 kg, which is more than 250 kg heavier than a Smart car.
Inasmuch as all of the other four-wheeled vehicles on the road are larger and with the rules of physics still in place, Smart will statistically be the least safe car for sale in Canada. As German safety studies of Smart and other microcars show, this will be especially true in a crash at highway speeds.
Smart is the most extreme example of how a vehicle's size matters in a crash, and how consumers concerned about their safety should bear this truth in mind when viewing car company marketing.
The dynamics of each crash are unique and sometimes that might mean that a vehicle can do well in a crash with a bigger vehicle, but the odds are always against it. In most crashes, mass counts more than anything.