"jim beam" <nospam@example.net> wrote in message
news:24WdncWH-8HnCTnZnZ2dnUVZ_sidnZ2d@speakeasy.net...
> TeGGeR® wrote:
>> "F. H." <connectu2@verizon.net> wrote in
>> news:cJZog.20153$Yk.14009@trnddc06:
>>>DaimlerChrysler to Bring Teeny Two-Seater to U.S.
>>>The company's Smart car, available in Europe since 1998, is to go on sale
>>>here in early 2008.
>>>By John O'Dell
>>>Times Staff Writer
>>>
>>>June 29, 2006
>>>
>>>The tiny Smart car is only two-thirds the size of a Mini Cooper, but
>>>DaimlerChrysler has big plans for it.
>>
>>
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah blah blah.
>>
>> Canada has these rolling telephone booths since...what? 2003?
>>
>> Daimler Chrysler loses money on each and every one, in spite of their
>> high purchase price.
>>
>> There are forty inches (I checked) between the front bumper and the top
>> of the steering wheel. You wanna bash into something while driving a
>> "Smart"? Go check how many inches separate *your* steering wheel top from
>> *your* front bumper.
>
> 40" doesn't necessarily mean a thing. check this out:
> http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/Cra...operVsFordF150
> i'd trust 40" from daimlerchrysler more than 80" from ford ANY day.
>>
>> You know why "Smarts" are officially "safe"? Because there are too many
>> dollars between you and the other vehicles.
Jim, I would have thought that someone of your experience and intelligence
would better evaluate a source such as Bridger. Your link shows the result
of two head on crashes, one of which (the F150) is actually a front end
offset crash as opposed to the Mini which is a true front end impact...Next
the table of data listed were compiled by two "scientists" one of which is
from Cal Berkley which has a reputation of being anti-everything
establishment/American/or even moderately conservative. These data are
misleading and actually of little value as they list number of deaths per
1mil vehicles but they include not only the hitter but also the hitee. This
means 10 Yugo drivers hit 10 F150 and all 10 Yugo drivers are killed, then
BOTH the Yugo and the F150 are credited with 10 fatalities. Although
technically correct, this is a way to skew these data to support (or in this
case smear) a particular position or belief. In any such a study one must
ask the question; "Do the researchers have a personal agenda that may color
his perspective, analysis, and findings?". Also interesting was the fact
that the researchers lumped into a single category all Ford trucks, to wit,
"F-series". These are the best selling vehicles in the U.S. and have been
for decades. This allows for consideration of many more crashes than for
other categories... BTW, in the 1970s the Mini was banned from import into
the U.S....Why? Because Ralph Nader convinced someone that no vehicle with
12" wheels (maybe 10" I disremember) could be safe enough to operate on
American roads. Besides which, these nowadays are not real Minis or Mini
Coopers or Mini Cooper Ss.

Dave D

Dave D