Few 2010 Models Pass Tougher Vehicle Crash Safety Tests

11/30/2009 - Law Firm Blog - Link to This Entry

Tougher crash safety tests leave consumers with 67 fewer options in 2010. Only nineteen cars and eight SUVs earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award. No vehicles from Toyota, Lexus or Scion made the list.

The IIHS added a new roof strength test to the already-rigorous tests (front, side, rear and rollover crashes) it uses to address increasingly specific circumstances under which drivers and passengers are injured and killed in collisions. Winners must also have electronic stability control, which research shows significantly reduces crash risk. This is the second time the Institute has tightened criteria since announcing the first recipients in 2005.

Here is an overview of the vehicles which received Top rating of “good” in all four crash tests - front, side, rollover, and rear impact - and have electronic stability control to help drivers avoid crashes:

In safety terms, we've come very far, very fast in just the past decade," according to Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). “Now that roof strength is a priority, we think manufacturers will move quickly to bolster roofs to do well in our roof-strength test," he commented. "This means consumers likely will have more Top Safety Pick choices for 2011."

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