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The Seicento did badly in both front and side impact tests. In the side impact test the abdomen was at a high risk of life threatening injuries and because of this the last star is struck through. The 1½-year old’s child restraints performed reasonably well and in most situations would provide protection but the 3-year-old’s was poor. The pedestrian performance was not good.

Front impact
Fiat does not fit a steering wheel airbag as standard on the Seicento, and the steering wheel could cause serious facial injury if struck by the driver in an accident. The front seat belts were fitted with reel mounted pretensioners to prevent slack so preventing excessive forward movement in a crash. However the driver’s survival space was compromised by the collapse of the passenger compartment which contributed to the driver’s chest contacting the steering wheel. The driver also slipped forward in his seat belt so loading his abdomen, which can lead to serious injury. The knee impact area was aggressive and the feet were endangered by the brake pedal movement. The passenger’s head also contacted the centre console. Only a simple two point static belt was fitted in the centre rear seat, which can cause severe spinal and abdominal injuries.

Side impact
The force recorded in the abdominal area of the driver could lead to an increased risk of serious or fatal injury. This was caused by the protruding arm-rest on the door which was constructed in a way that allowed loads to be transferred from the inner door trim.

Child-protection
Both child restraints were forward facing and performed reasonably well in that they stopped the children’s heads moving too far froward in frontal impact, and 1½-year old’s restraint some protection to the vulnerable body regions. The 3-year-old was subjected to a high chest load in frontal impact and the head was came outside the restraint in the side impact. For the 1½-year old the main problem areas were that in the frontal impact the neck loading was high, which is a common fault of forward facing seats for this age of child, and the chest loading was above the good limit. Also on both seats the labelling on the seats was of poor quality, was confusing and could be easily removed.

Pedestrian protection
The protection offered to pedestrians was not good and similar to many cars of this class. Most of the front of the car was aggressive with most of the score being picked up from soft spots on the bonnet and windscreen.