Hedgekid in bizarre exploding Smartcar incident

[nuphoria]

 

Yesterday, my girl rang up all shaken (and a tad stirred) after the glass roof of the Smartcar she was in exploded. They were travelling at the time and had nowhere sensible to pull over whilst being showered with glass; glass which although you would think was safety glass also contained a lot of very sharp shards.

Not such a "smart" car after all eh? Apparently they don't make them like that any more as they kept doing this - so why in the name of all things smart did they not recall the bloody useless things?? Luckily both m'lady and the driver were not hurt but it could have been a damn sight worse 

I went off on a rescue mission to get them home after the tow truck (with grumpy bugger driver) took about a million hours to get them. Hot tea and snacks were applied and some half way good mood was reinstalled.

[Neil]

Ouch!  I'd heard about that, apparently over time the front edge of the roof glass gets weakened and then poof    Only on some of the older models I hear.  Glad everyone is OK.

Neil

[gafftapegreenia]

They recently started selling the smart cars in the US and I'm just starting to see them regularly.

I should think ours don't have this problem. I hope.

[Gareth]

Glad to hear everyone is OK.  I'd never heard of this problem before so I did a big of googling and found this old article.  http://www.whatcar.com/news-article.aspx?NA=177920 

[nuphoria]

Yep, that was what happened! They never did recall them despite this being reported numerous times.

Glad to hear everyone is OK.  I'd never heard of this problem before so I did a big of googling and found this old article.  http://www.whatcar.com/news-article.aspx?NA=177920 

[I'm Still Bison]

Hedgekid is safe and sound now,that's all that matters. If that happened here she would've been surrounded by lawyers sniffing a lawsuit in the air,hours before the tow truck showed up.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I've never heard of that either- I work with hundreds of SmartCars a day (I work at the auto import yard, where they take all the European cars for Canada off the boats) but then I don't really spend any time with them beyond the unloading process.

Very interesting read, and I am glad to hear Hedgekid is ok- the glass can be dangerous itself, but not nearly as dangerous as the swerving that can result from something like that happening. 
 
Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Damn that is nasty

I'm glad the lass is ok though

[Craig]

Sounds scary  .

Good to hear she's not hurt

[cliosguy]

something similiar happen to me, i was on a public bus, sitting on the front row, minding my own bussines and then POW! the front glass of the bus breaks in pieces, shoking to say the least , glad to hear Hedgekid is fine

[rp252]

Yeah, its good to know nobody was seriously hurt.

Its staggering they didn't recall those vehicles.  The chance of a dangerous accident with such a malfunction is stupidly high.

[DaveK]

I always said those cars were stupid 

Glad that everyone's OK

[Hedge Kid]

Aw thanks guys. Other than tiny slivers of glass in my hands, I'm all better! Got another one out this morning!

It was really surreal and I'm glad we were on a country road and not on the motorway. It felt like half a tree landed on the roof!

I'm thinking that it was probably more surreal for all the lorry drivers taking short cuts up this country A road only to see two incredibly smartly dressed women in business suits pottering around on the junction doing "please don't rain" dances 

I didn't have a high opinion of Smart cars before this happen, now I think they're even worse. Stay away!!!

The car is now being fixed at a cost of £500 but this time it's having a perspex roof! I don't know why she's bothering - those cars have all the safety capacity of a crisp bag on wheels.

[Roadie]

Aw thanks guys. Other than tiny slivers of glass in my hands, I'm all better! Got another one out this morning!

It was really surreal and I'm glad we were on a country road and not on the motorway. It felt like half a tree landed on the roof!

I'm thinking that it was probably more surreal for all the lorry drivers taking short cuts up this country A road only to see two incredibly smartly dressed women in business suits pottering around on the junction doing "please don't rain" dances 

I didn't have a high opinion of Smart cars before this happen, now I think they're even worse. Stay away!!!

The car is now being fixed at a cost of £500 but this time it's having a perspex roof! I don't know why she's bothering - those cars have all the safety capacity of a crisp bag on wheels.

Just catching up on threads from the last few days.....

Glad to hear you're doing fine Completely agree with you about Smart cars though

[Hedge Kid]

Aw thanks guys. Other than tiny slivers of glass in my hands, I'm all better! Got another one out this morning!

It was really surreal and I'm glad we were on a country road and not on the motorway. It felt like half a tree landed on the roof!

I'm thinking that it was probably more surreal for all the lorry drivers taking short cuts up this country A road only to see two incredibly smartly dressed women in business suits pottering around on the junction doing "please don't rain" dances 

I didn't have a high opinion of Smart cars before this happen, now I think they're even worse. Stay away!!!

The car is now being fixed at a cost of £500 but this time it's having a perspex roof! I don't know why she's bothering - those cars have all the safety capacity of a crisp bag on wheels.

Just catching up on threads from the last few days.....

Glad to hear you're doing fine Completely agree with you about Smart cars though

Me too, wouldn't it be nice if you could pause the forum until you came back......this lot talk loads! 

[Roadie]

Me too, wouldn't it be nice if you could pause the forum until you came back......this lot talk loads! 

allow me to finish that last sentence for you......

.....this lot talk loads of crap!

Has been a fun few days though, birthday, network installation, laminate floor laying, aerial mounting, gate fixing, beer drinking, sound engineering type of few days!! Fun times! But i digress!

[Mike 56]

Glad to hear everyone was ok. I just started seeing smart cars here in the states i have been wondering about them. They are a bit small for me. My Kia Rio is about as small as i want to go.
Mike

[nuphoria]

Me too, wouldn't it be nice if you could pause the forum until you came back......this lot talk loads! 

allow me to finish that last sentence for you......

.....this lot talk loads of crap!

Has been a fun few days though, birthday, network installation, laminate floor laying, aerial mounting, gate fixing, beer drinking, sound engineering type of few days!! Fun times! But i digress!

Another birthday? Taureans rock eh? 

[Gareth]

Aw thanks guys. Other than tiny slivers of glass in my hands, I'm all better! Got another one out this morning!

It was really surreal and I'm glad we were on a country road and not on the motorway. It felt like half a tree landed on the roof!

I'm thinking that it was probably more surreal for all the lorry drivers taking short cuts up this country A road only to see two incredibly smartly dressed women in business suits pottering around on the junction doing "please don't rain" dances 

I didn't have a high opinion of Smart cars before this happen, now I think they're even worse. Stay away!!!

The car is now being fixed at a cost of £500 but this time it's having a perspex roof! I don't know why she's bothering - those cars have all the safety capacity of a crisp bag on wheels.

Just catching up on threads from the last few days.....

Glad to hear you're doing fine Completely agree with you about Smart cars though

Me too, wouldn't it be nice if you could pause the forum until you came back......this lot talk loads! 

Even without Benner here we still manage to talk a load of.....

well you get the idea.

Glad to hear you're OK though.

[Roadie]

Me too, wouldn't it be nice if you could pause the forum until you came back......this lot talk loads! 

allow me to finish that last sentence for you......

.....this lot talk loads of crap!

Has been a fun few days though, birthday, network installation, laminate floor laying, aerial mounting, gate fixing, beer drinking, sound engineering type of few days!! Fun times! But i digress!

Another birthday? Taureans rock eh? 

Yes....yes we do!!

[nuphoria]

Well belated happy birthday to you young man 

[Roadie]

Well belated happy birthday to you young man 

Ta

[Leatherman123]

You know, I never understood smart cars. For the minuscule amount of $$$ you save, it really isn't worth it. Sure, the car may get 40 MPG- but an accident could turn deadly due to their small size. For the extra money, I find comfort and space to be a top priority. That's just my opinion. Nevertheless, the Toyota Prius gets around 50 MPG and it's a good size...

What are the current gas prices in the UK? 

[duckman1975]

You know, I never understood smart cars. For the minuscule amount of $$$ you save, it really isn't worth it. Sure, the car may get 40 MPG- but an accident could turn deadly due to their small size. For the extra money, I find comfort and space to be a top priority. That's just my opinion. Nevertheless, the Toyota Prius gets around 50 MPG and it's a good size...

What are the current gas prices in the UK? 

+1 I agree with you small cars are unsafe because of big SUV and Car which are some driven by teens and unexperienced drivers. Guess auto makers have to shrink some of their car, suv models to get better mileage and make the streets safer. How much is the Prius in the states? Haven't seen one here in the Philippines, is it expensive?

[Leatherman123]

 

If I can afford it, I'd rather spend the extra money for comfort, safety, and space! That's why I rock a Silverado!

[Nikos]

I'm happy everyone is ok. I just hope they (Merc?) had done the right thing earlier and recalled the older models.

Now, here's my €0.02 on the safety/mileage subject. You have to take things for what they are. Smart cars were not made to promote your mileage; hybrids do that. They were designed small to let you go around in a city with ease and to make finding parking spaces less time consuming. If people take their Smarts to multi-mile journeys on highways or in the countryside it's their choice. Just because they can doesn't mean they should. The speed limit in urban districts is 50km/h or even 30 km/h; at that speed the Smart is not that bad (I'd consider myself being in greater danger in my larger but aging rear-wheel-drive/no-ABS/no-airbag car). That said, it appears that Smarts have more safety concerns than being run down by big SUVs and the like...

[Black Rose]

Glad to hear everyone was ok. I just started seeing smart cars here in the states i have been wondering about them. They are a bit small for me. My Kia

They've been here for a few years now. 

My buddy says take two of them and you have a pair of rollerskates

[Grant Lamontagne]

I think everyone should have a Smart Car.  Seriously, keep it in your glove compartment, and if your regular car breaks down, you'll be glad you have it when you go for help!

They are actually pretty safe, but in a different manner than regular cars.  The frame of the car is a roll cage, and rather than crumple zones, it's designed with very little mass so it bounces off things.  The idea is rather than getting crushed, the occupants will be launched away from the accident, and protected from the roll by the frame. 

It's also a good idea for driving in the city, which is where it's meant to be driven, as parking is much easier with it.  I see them parked side by side, facing out (sideways) in parallel parking spot, like this:



If you have narrow roads and limited parking in your city, this might not be a bad thing.

Def

[nuphoria]

Gas prices here are a bloody joke! We're paying around 95p a litre at the moment.

So that's about 3.79 litres to a US gallon (£3.60), which equates to around $5.50.

We are being robbed blind is the short answer!

[Nikos]

It's more like 92p here (€1.025 on average) so I guess that puts us in the same bin...