The IIHS, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an educational organization, funded by insurance companies which conducts studies to reduce deaths, injuries, and property damage from auto accidents. The results of their study shows that, due to their small size, minicars such as the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit and smart fortwo had significantly more intrusion into the space around the driver dummy, when used in crash tests with midsize vehicles. According to the IIHS. Institute President Adrian Lund, "Size still matters." and recommends purchasing larger cars in light of recent crash tests involving minicars.

Although their safety has improved over the years, there is still a long way to go in protecting occupants in crashes with larger vehicles. The testing involved crashing each minicar into a midsize vehicle. The results were called "rare and extreme" by Smart USA President David Schembri, who insisted that the tests did not represent the likely impact in a real world collision.

The NHTSA conducts crash tests by crashing the test vehicle into a stationary barrier. In these tests, the three minicars performed well.