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Photograph of a Smart Car perpendicularly parked from Jalopnik
We've been following the progress of the Smart Car's U.S. introduction for a while and last month it was reported that they would be making their way to NYC this month. Jalopnik took a ride in the first Smart Car and has photographs of the 8.8' by 5.1' car in some super scenic NYC spots.
Jalopnik's Wes Siler wrote, "Congested urban streets and crowded highways stop feeling claustrophobic and start feeling easy. It's quick to turn, yet feels more stable than most vehicles twice its size." He's quick to point out that it's not an electric or a hybrid car, but for a vehicle, it's "easier to use in an urban environment than anything else." Too bad parking perpendicularly is illegal!
Speaking of parking, Streetsblog has an interesting comment from a parking workshop held in Queens - some people spoke of the "right" to own a car because they live in Queens, far away from "the Manhattan urban core."
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That car will get a ticket parked that way. For "angle" parking and for sticking out onto the bike lane and probably the curb.
CODE 61. Except where angle parking is authorized, stopping, standing or parking other than parallel to curb or edge of roadway. Or, parking opposite the direction of authorized traffic movement.
FINE: $65/$45
CODE 62. Standing or parking a vehicle beyond markings on the curb or the pavement of a street which designate a parking space, except when a Vehicle is too large to fit in that "marked" parking space. In such instances where a vehicle is too large, it shall be parked with its front bumper at the front of the space and the rear bumper extending as little as possible into the adjoining space. FINE: $65/$45
Yeah! I'm on the list... but based on my number I don't expect to get mine until Spring/Summer time frame. This is the perfect car for the city and occasional weekend jaunts.
I have feeling people won't be parking their cars like that anyway. New Yorkers can't parallel park very well and like to play bumper cars when getting out of spots. The only problem here is they would be backing into your door which will most certainly cause damage.
I would be a tad afraid of being hit by a cab in that at 50mph.
"some people spoke of the "right" to own a car because they live in Queens"
Much of Queens is not on a subway line, and for many areas cars are a necessity.
"I would be a tad afraid of being hit by a cab in that at 50mph."
A natural first reaction. But read up on it. The Smart Car has been designed to receive a 4-star safety rating in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration front- and side-impact tests.
"In Detroit, product specialist Russell Smolik said these kinds of safety fears probably stem from memories of earlier subcompact cars. Unlike those relatively crude cars of the 1980s, the ForTwo comes stocked with safety features. At its heart is a reinforced steel safety cell, called the Tridion safety cell, which surrounds the driver and passenger.
'It acts as a protective shell, if you will — sort of like a shell around a walnut,' Kettenbeil said.
The ForTwo’s Tridion cell is designed to keep the occupant space intact while everything else, from the bumpers to the engine bay, absorbs the impact. Standard front- and side-impact airbags, as well as antilock brakes and an electronic stability system, are there to provide additional safety.
'All the crash tests show the Smart has extraordinary performance' in holding up through an accident, says Karl-Heinz Baumann, the Mercedes engineer in charge of this latest model. Not only is the shell that protects passengers difficult to penetrate, but the interior has more room for them to bounce around, an added safety factor. The car has four air bags, anti-lock brakes, stability control and a collapsing steering column."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-11-11-smartcar_N.htm
Crash test video:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/5746444#5746444
They're kind of small. I'll take two.
crash tests are usually at minimal speeds like 30MPH. how has this passed safety regs?
[i]"crash tests are usually at minimal speeds like 30MPH. how has this passed safety regs?"[/i]
How about 70 mph? :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJHpUO-S0i8
"crash tests are usually at minimal speeds like 30MPH. how has this passed safety regs?"
How about 70 mph? :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJHpUO-S0i8
why? why can't you park the smart car perpendicularly? bunch of crap. that's a major reason why i want one.
I would guess that you can't park perpendicularly because of the chance of parked cars rolling into oncoming traffic.
that's a good point. Forest Hills is not one of the areas that requires a car. Forest Hills Gardens is just large homes, and parking in that area is limited to residents with permits. Those folks probably don't need cars, but get to enjoy that luxury because they live in an area with relatively low population density.
I doubt that most of the rest of those in Forest Hills, esp. close to Queens Boulevard, have cars, for the same reason that most people in Manhattan don't- public transportation is readily available, and most importantly, finding parking is a pain.
The funny thing is that the appeal of the smart car, which most of the posters here seem in favor of, is that they are easier to park in a crowded urban setting, which alleviates one of the biggest disincentives to having a car in the city.
Of course, this should lead to MORE cars in the city, albeit smaller ones. Considering that these aren't even electric, should likely create a corresponding increase in air pollution.
I fucking dare you to take that thing out on the GCP..or the BQE when its moving fast.
I fucking dare you!
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Mfer: aw, c'mon. no one gets tickets for blocking a bike lane! that would just be too awesome.
I first saw these cars in Paris at least 5 years ago, if not more than that. I can't believe it's taken this long for them to get approved over here. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course it took a billion years to get a fuel-efficient car approved here.
I guess I'm a bit cynical today...
it wasn't the approval process that took so long, it was waiting for oil to reach $100 a barrel and consumers trading in explorers for priuses that convinced daimler, owner of smart, to finally bring them here. they had even floated the forfour idea for a while but it never caught on like the fever for the fortwo with its iconic (permanent collection in moma) shape.
I was just in Berlin and smarts have spread like a plague there. A pretty common sight. Also, they park at 90 degrees all the time, it's exactly what called my attention to the car.
Looks great for tooling around the 5 boros but what about long drives? Reliable? Beefy?
I fucking dare you to take that thing out on the GCP..or the BQE when its moving fast.
I fucking dare you!
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
No problem, wiseguy, I do it today on my Vespa.
Size does not = safety.
See:
http://pictures.topspeed.com/IMG/crop-460x311/crash-1_0w.jpg