CNNMoney: Insurance Institute: Top 10 safest cars

[DeepModem Mom]

Insurance Institute: Top 10 safest cars
See the top 10 as rated in crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
December 5, 2005


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego, when equipped with optional side airbags, earned a Gold "Top Safety Pick" award for large cars from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Audi A6 was given the Silver award for large cars.

The Five Hundred and Montego are corporate "twins," stylistically different versions of the same car.

Vehicles that received Gold awards earned "good" ratings -- the best possible -- for front-, side- and rear-impact protection. Vehicles that were rated good for front- and side-impact protection and "acceptable" for rear-impact protection earned Silver awards....

***

The top 10 follow:


LARGE Cars

Gold: Ford Five Hundred/Mercury Montego (Twin vehicles)

Silver: Audi A6


MIDSIZED cars

Gold: Saab 9-3

Gold: Subaru Legacy

Silver: Audi A3

Silver: Audi A4

Silver: Chevrolet Malibu with optional side airbags

Silver: Volkswagen Jetta

Silver: Volkswagen Passat


SMALL car

Gold: Honda Civic 4-door


MINIVANS

No winners


http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/12/04/iihs_top_safety/index.html

[SCDem]

1. Yeah my Honda Civic Hybrid is not only "safe" for the environment

but me too! Yeah for Howie my Honda Civic Hybrid (name of course for my respect and infatuation with Dean)

[Kolesar]

4. ...and driving it is just a scream?... eom

[mechanical mandible]

8. And people say they drive larger, gas hoarding cars because they are safer

[SCDem]

9. Just goes to show people are suckers

and that advertisers and marketing firms are doing a heck of a job (as * would say) in propelling that myth.

[mechanical mandible]

10. Boy do we sound stupid...

Sorry, but I just read the whole article and found that SUV's and Trucks weren't included because the side airbag tests haven't come in yet.

[Psephos]

12. LOL...most people don't RTFA before posting

and that's true of other forums besides DU, as well.

It seems to urge to spout is a lot stronger than the urge to learn.

Peace.

[Massacure]

19. Civic is also the third most reliable in its class if I recall.

You can't go wrong with those cars!

[JPZenger]

2. No Volvos?

It is interesting to note that no Volvos were on the list. I wonder if they were tested as part of this study. The top rated car, the Ford 500, was built with some Volvo technology. (Ford owns Volvo, Jaquar, and Mazda.)

[DeepModem Mom]

3. I wondered about that, too, considering Volvo's reputation...

for safety.

[midnight armadillo]

6. Volvos are very safe

Historically the Swedish cars, Saab & Volvo, have been the safest if you eyeball the IIHS list of injury & death rates over the years. Volvo typically is right after Saab in the rankings ;-) As an example, when the side-impact standards were introduced in the US in the early 90's, Saab didn't need to change their door designs since they already exceeded the standards.

Other very safe makes are Audi and Mercedes-Benz. I think the Europeans (and especially the Swedes) have made safety a constant design theme for a long time. The Korean makes (Hyundai, Kia, Daewoo) are just starting to think about it. Adding airbags helps, but crash safety needs to be built into the whole car from the beginning. American & Japanese makes are typically somewhere between these two in safety ratings.

[GregW]

5. Sweet! Audi A6 driver here!

Or should I say ... turbo-charged Audi A6 driver here :evilgrin:

[SuperWonk]

7. Looks good....

Can we give a little credit to American automakers for this one?
They have had a rough time recently, and this is a definite ray of sunshine.

[SuperWonk]

11. kick...

Finally some positive buzz, and no one is talking.

What gives? I think this is a pretty big coup.

[AngryAmish]

13. A word of caution on insurance institute studies

They take into account the cost of repair so human safety is not their only metric.

[SuperWonk]

14. But in a world...

Where perception is reality, this is a wake up call that domestic car makers are doing something right.

Am I way off base on this one?

[newscott]

15. I've got a Malibu, but no side air bags.

[leftchick]

16. About the minivans....

Because I have one....

<snip>
No minivans were selected because none met the criteria for an award. While the Honda Odyssey, Nissan Quest and Toyota Sienna minivans performed well in front and side crash tests, their headrests, which protect against neck injury in rear-end impacts, were rated Marginal or Poor, the Institute said.

[phusion]

17. Sweet - I have a subaru legacy

but it's a 1992. Wonder if it was that safe back then?

Go Subaru!

[SuperWonk]

18. I am surprised...

That no one has been hooked by this story.
Let me repeat: This is, dare I say, good news for the American auto industry...

And I believe it deserves some recognition.