This, According To A Wall Street Journal Article Titled:
Small Cars Are Dangerous Cars Fuel economy zealots can kill you.
"Even though the Smart car and other minis such as the Honda Fit and the Toyota Yaris have fared relatively well in single-car crash tests, they performed poorly in these two-car frontal offset collisions. In the words of IIHS president Adrian Lund, though much safer than they were a few years ago, minicars as a group do a comparatively poor job of protecting people in crashes, simply because they're smaller and lighter."
"That difference is reflected in the real world. The death rate in minis in multi-vehicle crashes is almost twice as high as that of large cars. And in single-vehicle crashes, where there's no oversized second vehicle to blame, the difference is even greater: Passengers in minis suffered three times as many deaths as in large cars."
******************************************************************************************************************************
Some of these little cars are apparently cute and attractive to some people. Many people misinterpret the safety testing and ratings. I guess the choice is up to the individual. I choose safety first, MPG second. All the money one saves driving a mini car seems kind of silly after a tragedy. Like I said, do your homework, be the parent.
CSA