2008 Top Safety Picks

Safety-conscious car buyers have a new resource to turn to. Thirty-four vehicles earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award for 2008. Eight vehicles from Ford and its subsidiary Volvo as well as seven from Honda and its subsidiary Acura were named among the winners in their respective classes.

The total number of winning vehicles is the most to earn the distinction since the Institute began announcing Top Safety Picks in December 2005. The 2005 list named both Gold Award and Silver Award winners.

Russ Rader, director of media relations at IIHS, explained that the Institute stopped using the distinction between Gold and Silver Awards when they tightened their criteria. “Formerly, a car could have a seat/head restraint rating of ‘acceptable’ and still qualify for the Silver Award,” Rader said. “But with the new, strengthened criteria, only vehicles with good ratings across the board are named among IIHS’s Top Safety Picks.”

Product Development Specialist Sam Mancini said he thinks the IIHS list is excellent. “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. Working in the Auto Product Development section for ERIE, Sam has a great deal of knowledge about vehicle safety.

Strengths of the IIHS ratings system

The IIHS tests vehicles’ ability to protect people in front, side and rear-end crashes to determine their award winning models. By choosing the winners based upon crash test performance, the IIHS spares consumers the hassle of sifting through multiple sets of test results.

It also offers winners in different size categories, which allows for some flexibility in price. “For people unable to afford a luxury car or an SUV, the IIHS provides some alternatives so that you can find a safe car at a reasonable price.”

In recent years, Sam, who helped compile ERIE’s Car Guide for the public Web site, noted that many of the factors he used to rate vehicles had become standard features in most vehicles.

“We didn’t want to abandon our Car Guide list, but the IIHS provides a tremendous reference point for consumers,” Sam said. “They combine the elements from their improved testing procedures with loss data reported by insurance companies. Their ratings truly reflect overall vehicle safety.”

Room for improvement

There are still a few ways the IIHS could improve its Top Safety Picks. “When I would put together the Car Guide, a single symbol increase based on ERIE’s Car Experience Rating (CER) program was enough to keep a vehicle off our list,” Sam said. “But the IIHS list does not appear to account for insurability.” He suggested that prospective buyers should call their Agents before purchasing cars to avoid unforeseen spikes in their insurance rates.

A glance at the IIHS Top Safety Picks shows that the list is heavy on imported vehicles with only a few domestic models. However, the overall number of vehicles on the list has grown in each of its three years. As the list has become more prominent, manufacturers have taken notice and taken steps to help their vehicles meet the IIHS safety standards. If that trend continues, expect the number of domestic cars that qualify to increase as well.

Which vehicles are eligible to win?

All current car and minivan models, small and midsize SUVs, and small and large pickup trucks are eligible to win the Top Safety Pick award. Prior to 2008, pickups were not tested for side impact crashes and therefore not eligible to win.

Last year the IIHS added a criterion for vehicles to qualify for the award. In addition to performing well in the crash tests, vehicles must be equipped with electronic stability control (ESC) to qualify. ESC technology uses sensors and a microcomputer to prevent skidding and decrease the chance of vehicle rollover. IIHS research shows that ESC reduces the risk of fatal single-vehicle crashes by 56 percent and fatal multiple-vehicle crashes by 32 percent.

More than 20 vehicles fell just short of the 2008 Top Safety Pick. They scored well in front and side crash tests and had ESC, standard or optional. However, their seat/head restraints failed to earn a good rating.

For more information about the specifics of the IIHS crash tests performed on the vehicles, read the full press release.

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