Imagine brand new cars, say, of all makes and sizes, being crushed mercilessly --- on purpose. That's exactly what the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does, to find out which are the safest vehicles to drive year after year. 2010's no different, as they usually do the testing the year before to determine which the safest cars are.

Here's a small highlight of the safest vehicles for 2010 with the top for each category.

Large Cars
Buick LaCrosse – The LaCrosse scored the highest possible score (5 stars) in both frontal and side-impact crash tests. And the way the front and all-wheel-drive trims are designed, it has earned a four out of 5 in preventing a rollover. The LaCrosse comes standard with front and front-side airbags, plus an option to include rear airbags, making this one of 2010's safest vehicles.

Midsize Cars
Audi A3 – Scoring “Good” (the top rating) for frontal offset, side impact, rear crash protection and roof strength, Audi definitely put safety first when building the A3. Anti-lock brakes, Electronic Brake-pressure Distribution, Electronic Differential Lock are just some of the features you will come to expect and love about the A3.

Small Cars
Honda Civic (4-door model, excluding Si) – The old guard for safe cars, the 2010 Civic earns 5 stars when it comes to driver/passenger safety in a front/rear-side collision as well as the rear passenger safety when it comes to side collisions. It earns a 4 in rollover protection, which is still impressive, considering how light the Civic is. Truly one of the safest vehicles ever built.

Midsize SUVs
Dodge Journey – The Journey, while combining SUV spaciousness with car comforts, earns the top spot in the midsize category. With good scores in crash tests, plus electronic stability control that comes standard, it has earned an IIHS “Top Safety Pick” designation, sharing this spot with only 3 other SUVs, making it one of the safest vehicles to drive.

Small SUVs
Honda Element – The Element ranks 10th in the list of Affordable Compact SUVs --- based on its price and safety performance. It scores 5 out of 5 stars in front/side impact crashes and receives an overall score of “Good.” Also belonging to the “Top Safety Pick” distinction, the Honda Element is equal parts compact SUV and safest vehicle.

If you're buying a new car this year, it'd be tops to consider one of the 5 safest vehicles for 2010. The IIHS already did the crash testing, so you won't have to.

(Source: http://www.iihs.org/ratings/)

Labels: driver safety, safe vehicles, suv safety, vehicle safey

The shock of $4.00 gas prices last summer and the state of the economy has a lot of new car buyers looking at the so called micro or mini cars such as the Mercedes Smart Car, Toyota Yaris and the Honda Fit as a way to save on gas during long commutes. Long available in Europe, the popularity of these cars in the US is growing with more and more of them appearing on America's roads. While very fuel efficient, it appears that the micro cars may not be safe enough for American-style traffic and driving conditions.

Recently, the Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducted crash tests on the Smart Car, the Yaris and the Fit. Instead of testing them against large trucks or SUVs, the IIHS chose to test their crash worthiness by crashing them at 40 mph into a mid-sized sedan made by the same manufacturer. The test results showed that the micro cars performed poorly in protecting the vehicle occupants in a crash.

In a crash with a Honda Accord against the Fit, injuries to the test dummies indicated that there was a high probability of major injury to both legs. The dummy's head also went through the airbag, striking the steering column. Intrusion into the passenger compartment rated this vehicle a poor rating.

The testers crashed the Toyota Yaris against a Camry. While the Camry performed well, the Yaris suffered significant intrusion into the passenger compartment and the door was almost torn off. The dummy’s head struck the steering wheel through the airbag and there was evidence of extensive injury to the neck and legs.

In a crash against a Mercedes C class, the Smart Fortwo went airborne and spun 450 degrees, leading to possible multiple injuries due to rebound. There was significant intrusion and both the dashboard and steering wheel were displaced and moved upward toward the dummy. There were measures of multiple injuries to the head and legs of the dummy.

While the mid-sized counterparts all fared in the acceptable range, all three of the micro cars were rated as poor. The physics involved in a crash like this are relatively easy for anyone to understand. The larger and faster an object is, the more damage it will impart on a smaller, lighter object.

Micro cars have been around a long time in Europe and their popularity there is a result of the different driving styles between Europe and the US. In Europe, there are fewer cars on the road, with people depending instead on the excellent public transportation systems available there. Most cars in Europe also tend to be smaller, leveling the playing field in crashes between vehicles. Europeans also tend to live in cities and, on average, have much shorter commuting distances than their American cousins who tend to live far out in the suburbs and depend on high speed limited access highways for their daily commute. Fewer miles traveled at slower speeds leads to fewer and less severe crashes.

While these vehicles may contain all the latest safety options such as electric stability control, air bags and improved seat belts, they are still at greater risk due to their light construction and less room between the driver and the front of the vehicle in a crash. Advocates say that more of these vehicles would lead to fewer injuries as larger cars are removed from the road. However, almost half of the deaths in these types of cars were in single vehicle crashes off the road or against a barrier and their light construction does little to protect vehicle occupants in this type of crash.

If you want to save money on gas and especially if you are purchasing a car for a teen or college bound child, there are vehicles available that get reasonably good mileage while offering better protection to the vehicle occupants. You can view videos of the crash tests performed on the micro vehicles and, if you are shopping for a particular car, you can search for crash worthiness results by vehicle year, model, or size at the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety's web site.

Labels: micro cars, mini cars, suv safety, traffic safety, vehicle safety