The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) wants to restrict the use of LSVs on public roads over concerns about crash safety, or have the government review current LSV safety standards.  Based on results from recent crash tests, the IIHS believes the mixing of LSVs with larger , full-functioning vehicles is a recipe for more serious injuries and deaths in vehicle accidents.

IIHS crash test simulating a GEM being hit by an SUV

The institute recently conducted a number of crash tests including a GEM e2 simulating a side impact with a SUV traveling at 31 mph, a GEM e2 being impacted by a Smart Fortwo and similar tests with a Changan Tiger Star mini-truck.  The institutes’s position is that crashworthy enough to be on the road with larger, faster vehicles.  At the same time, the group cannot point to evidence of  “…large numbers of people being hurt or dying in such crashes.”   Learn more:  Wheels.blogs.nytimes.com

Another article on the issue provided some responses from LSV manufacturers.

Chrysler Group responds, “GEM vehicles offer customers an inexpensive, clean solution for low-speed environments and comply with (the NHTSA’s) standards for low-speed vehicles, which limit the maximum speed of the vehicle to 25 mph.”

“It’s a grave generalization to say that all LSVs are simply souped-up golf carts,” says Mike McQuary, CEO of Atlanta-based Wheego Electric Cars, which manufactures the Whip LSV. “The Wheego Whip … is a full-functioning, steel unibody automobile that certainly nobody would ever mistake for a golf cart.”

Learn more:  USAToday.com