More Safe Vehicles on the Road in 2009

April 20, 2009 - If safety is a concern, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) suggests you check out Acura, Honda or Subaru — standouts in their 2009 Top Safety Pick awards. The three manufacturers have at least one award in every vehicle class. Ford and its subsidiary Volvo also topped the charts with 16 awards.

Recipients for the 2009 award more than doubled the number of 2008 winners. This year’s list has more than three times the number of 2007 winners.

“Consumers are the biggest winners,” said Adrian Lund, the institute’s president, in a press release. “No matter what kind of vehicle buyers may be considering, now they can walk into just about any dealership and find one that affords the best overall protection in serious crashes.”

Improvements in safety

To win a Top Safety Pick award, automakers need to offer safer vehicles that go beyond basic federal standards. For example, recipients of the award have side structures and side airbags to protect individuals in serious side crashes.

Automakers are taking note of the improved safety measures. In the 2009 model year, side airbags and head protection were standard in:

• 84 percent of passenger cars
• 99 percent of SUVs
• 23 percent of pickups

The same is true for vehicles equipped with electronic stability control (ECS). The equipment was standard in:

• 74 percent of passenger cars
• 99 percent of SUVs
• 37 percent of pickups

ERIE’s Product Development Specialist Sam Mancini described the IIHS list as an excellent resource. “I consult this list regularly, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to buy a new or recently manufactured pre-owned car,” he said.

Still room for improvement

The institute’s safety awards may have motivated automakers to improve the safety of their vehicles. However, 26 models still fell short of earning awards because of inadequate head restraint designs. Chrysler was the only major automaker that didn’t earn a Top Safety Pick.

The 2008 study found that, all other factors being the same, drivers were 15 percent less likely to sustain neck injuries in rear-end crashes if there were adequate seat/head restraint combinations in the vehicle.

Additionally, 11 vehicles missed awards because they didn’t have good occupant protection for side crashes.

For more information about the specifics of the IIHS crash tests performed on the vehicles and to see the ratings for each category, read the full press release.

• Print
• Bookmark
• Link
• E-mail
• Share
• Blog