Um, plenty of motorcycles out there allowed to be on the roads - the government couldn't possibly consider a Samurai safer than a Kawasaki.
I think the real problem is that ZAP got their 10 year exclusive distributorship before fuel prices went through the roof and everybody suddenly fell out of love with the SUV. At the time Smart probably figured they would be lucky to sell a thousand vehicles a year in the US. If Smart hadn't signed that deal and was looking to come into the US market today, their expectations would be far different and they would never have agreed to that deal.
Ted