The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that minicars made by Toyota, Honda, and Daimler AG all performed poorly on frontal crash tests with mid-sized automobiles, collapsing on impact into the space around the driver.

Consequently, drivers face potential head and leg injuries at collisions of 40 mph even when the airbags deploy. Intrusions into the driver's space occurred from the windshield pillars, instrument panels, toe boards, and steering wheels. As more manufacturers are developing mini cars, the results could prompt even greater debate about their safety.

In the statement issued by the Institute, President Adrian Lund said, "Size still matters. Though much safer than they were a few years ago, minicars as a group do a comparatively poor job of protecting people in crashes." Slightly larger vehicles, like the Toyota Camry hybrid, the Ford Fusion hybrid, and the VW Jetta diesel offer better protection and comparable fuel economy.

In response to the results, Smart USA President Dave Schembri said the severity of the collisions used in the test "is unlikely to occur in real world crashes. Smart has a proven track record of safety with approximately one million cars on the road in 37 countries." Lund agreed that head-on collisions at 40 miles an hour are rare, but added, "it's these crashes that often cause serious injury and death."