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SAFETY
FIRST
You may remember the public service announcements
from the 1980s where two crash-test dummies named
Vince and Larry cavorted around, extolling the benefits
of seat-belt usage. Back then, the U.S. Department
of Transportation told us, via these advertisements,
that “You can learn a lot from a dummy.”
Motor vehicle safety innovations have grown exponentially
since then, but we can still learn a lot from those
dummies — or their more sophisticated
offspring.
Each year, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
(IIHS) gives vehicles a rating of Good, Acceptable,
Marginal or Poor based on performance in high-speed
front- and side-impact crash tests. The IIHS also
evaluates seat head restraints for protection against
neck injuries in rear impacts. Ratings reflect measurements
of intrusions into the occupant compartment, injuries
to the crash-test dummies and the movement and contact
of the dummies heads during the crash.
In order to be named a Top Safety Pick by the IIHS,
vehicles must earn a rating of Good in all three
tests (front, side and rear). New for 2007, winning
vehicles must offer electronic stability control.
This new requirement eliminated some of last year’s
winners, including the Ford Five Hundred, Mercury
Montego and Honda Civic (whose ESC-equipped models
rate below “Good” for rear-crash protection).
Vehicles are eligible to win in the categories of
small, midsize and large cars; minivans; small and
midsize SUVs. There was no winner in the small-car
category for 2007.
“Our crash tests cover the most common kinds of real world collisions,” says
Institute president Adrian Lund. “Designating Top Safety Pick winners
based on the tests makes it easier for consumers to identify vehicles that
afford the best overall protection without sifting through multiple sets of
comparative test results.”
IIHS’s Top Safety picks are listed (below,
at right, wherever they are listed).
2007 Top Safety Picks
Large Car
Audi A6
Midsize
Cars
Audi A4
Saab 9-3
Subaru Legacy
Minivans
Hyundai Entourage
Kia Sedona
Luxury
SUVs
Mercedes Benz M-Class
Volvo XC90
Midsize SUVs
Acura RDX
Honda Pilot
Subaru B9 Tribeca
Small
SUVs
Honda CR-V
Subaru Forester
Source: Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety. For more information and detailed
crash-test ratings, visit iihs.org. |
