Fatal traffic accidents happen once every fifteen minutes on American roads, claiming more than 40,000 lives a year.
Reducing that death toll and the related insurance costs is the goal of the Insurance Institute for highway safety which is funded by insurance companies.
The institute conducts crash after crash, giving each vehicle a rating of good, acceptable, marginal, or poor.
Adrian Lund, president of the IIHS: The vehicles that manufacturers have designed to do better in the crash tests that have been developed, are reducing the fatality rates on the road as well.
The institute tested six vehicles this time, simulating severe crashes. The first is a 40-mile-per-hour crash into a concrete barrier demonstrating a frontal offset collision. The second is a side-impact test, in which a sled representing a large, heavy SUV is slammed into vehicle at 31 miles per hour.
2007 Dodge Caliber
The 2007 Dodge Caliber shows how far safety designs have come. It’s the replacement for the Dodge Neon, a car that only got a ‘marginal’ rating in this test seven years ago. So how does the Caliber perform?
In the frontal offset, the caliber earns the institute’s top rating—‘good.’
Lund: The story is a little different on side impact. You’ll see the head curtain deploys to protect the head. But there’s nothing down here to adequately protect the chest and abdomen of the driver. And as a result, we see risk of rib fractures and internal organ injuries.
In the side impact test the caliber gets the institute’s second lowest rating -‘marginal,’ still it’s an improvement over the Neon’s ‘poor’ rating.
Dodge says it will soon offer an additional airbag in the caliber, but it will be an ‘option’ so you’ll have to pay more for that added protection.
Lund: They’re hoping that with that they will improve the rating of this vehicle, maybe even get a “good.”
2006 Hyundai Tucson
The 2006 Hyundai Tucson also faces both the side-impact sled and the frontal offset crash test barrier. The results show some possibility of leg injuries in both the frontal and side impact tests. So, the Tucson also gets an ‘acceptable’ rating.
Only side impact tests for Camry, Rav 4, Zephyr
The next three vehicles only face the side impact test.
The 2007 Toyota Camry, with standard side impact protection, clearly shows how well designed side airbags can protect occupants.
Lund: Side impact airbag protection is critical for protecting you in side impacts, especially against the taller vehicles like SUVs and pickups, where the hoods can come directly in and make contact with the head.
The Camry gets a rating of “good.”
This is another Toyota, the 2006 Rav 4, with ‘optional’ side airbag protection—you’ll have to pay extra to get it. And it also gets a rating of ‘good.’
Lund says the ’06 Lincoln Zephyr’s driver and passenger don’t do quite as well in the side impact test.
Lund: There’s some risk of pelvic injury there, pelvic fractures. And that is something we see in real-world crashes.
Lincoln Zephyr gets a rating of ‘acceptable.’
Frontal test for Kia Optima
The 2006 Kia Optima only faces the frontal crash test barrier.
The crash test dummy records low injury numbers, so the Optima also gets the institute’s top rating—‘good.’
All of these vehicles pass the federal government’s safety tests.
Insurance institute president Adrian Lund says new car buyers should demand more from automakers including the latest, and most effective, safety technology.
Lund: If we say that it’s “good,” we think that that is a vehicle that’s offering sort of the state of the art protection. If we say it’s poor, then that vehicle is substantially below the state of the art of protection. And frankly, if you’re shopping for safety, you should be avoiding those vehicles.