Autoblog

Click above for more of the IIHS side impact crash tests for small pickups

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently performed side crash tests for the first time on small pickups. Their sampling included the Toyota Tacoma, Dodge Dakota, Ford Ranger, Nissan Frontier and Chevy Colorado. The results were published today and they indicate that small pickup owners might want to start wearing helmets while driving.

The IIHS has only three grades for its crash tests: Good, Marginal and Poor. The Dakota, Ranger and Frontier all earned Marginal ratings, while the Colorado could only muster a Poor rating due in part to the moving barrier actually coming in contact with the dummy's head during the simulated crash. The Tacoma, however, was the only vehicle to earn a Good rating. It was also the only small truck tested with side air bags, which are an option for 2008 but will be standard equipment on 2009 Tacomas.

If side airbags are an option, the IIHS will, as a rule, test a vehicle without them unless an automaker wants to rerun the crash test with a model that has side airbags and is willing to pay for the cost of the vehicle that's crashed. Not unsurprisingly, the archaic Ranger was the only small pickup that doesn't offer side airbags at all, though it was surprising that none of the other automakers requested their models be tested with side airbags. The IIHS also tells us that small pickups have the highest driver death rates of any vehicles on the road, which makes these tests all the more significant.

Check out the official press release after the jump, and peruse the gallery of crash test photos below to witness the utter crappiness that is small pickup crash worthiness.


[Source: IIHS]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced today that by 2013, all passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. will be required to provide head protection in side-impact crashes.

The regulation comes after three years of research, which found that about 29-percent, or 9,200 people, were killed in crashes resulting from side impacts. However, the auto industry as a whole has agreed to install side airbags on all vehicles by September 2009.

NHTSA's full press release is available after the jump.

[Source; NHTSA]

Click the image above for a gallery of all the IIHS contenders.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has just released its most recent round of crash tests, rating everything from the Kia Amanti to the BMW 5-series in one fell swoop. With a focus set on more luxury-oriented vehicles, the IIHS tested six new models to destruction, and walked away with results for front, side and rear impacts.

Topping the list, were the 2007 Acura RL, Kia Amanti and Volvo S80, all of which earned top marks. The S80, not surprisingly, garnered the Institute's Top Safety Pick for overall crash worthiness, rating good in all three categories, plus having standard stability control. The BMW 5-series didn't fare as well, getting a "marginal" score on the side impact test, despite being equipped with side airbags.

Mercedes asked the IIHS to retest the 2007 E-Class after only scoring an "acceptable" rating when test previously. After re-engineering a number of interior bits, the score remained the same, although the Institute noted a slight improvement, but not enough to affect the overall score. IIHS president, Adrian Lund, remarked that the E-class could have earned the Top Safety Pick award if the side impact rating had increased.

The IIHS also retested a revised version of the 2007 Cadillac STS, which included reinforced B-pillars, front door trim and a modified side torso airbag, which resulted in an "acceptable" rating.

The Institute made it a point to say that nearly every passenger vehicle now earns a top rating for frontal crashes, but side and rear impacts remain all over the board.

The full IIHS press release is posted after the jump.

[Source: IIHS]

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just can't stop ramming large, bumper shaped projectiles into the newest vehicles for 2007. Today the IIHS released the results of it most recent tests and it looks like Toyota is well represented at the top and the Caliber has made impressive improvements over its predecessor, the Dodge Neon.

The Toyota Camry received the institute's highest rating for a side impact, receiving an "excellent" score mainly due to its standard side-curtain airbags that provide the best possible protection to its occupants in one of the most common crashes.

Also tested was the Neon-replacing Dodge Caliber, which handily beat out its elder for both front and side impacts. Whereas the Neon was one of the worst vehicles tested at the time, the Caliber, with its standard side-curtain airbags, was awarded a "marginal" designation, compared to the Neon that received "poor" scores throughout its lifetime.

Other vehicles tested include the new RAV4, Kia Optima, Lincoln Zephyr and Hyundai Tucson.

One aspect of the tests that deserves note is that all the manufactures did not perform as well on the rear-impact tests as the IIHS would like. Where front and side impacts are some of the more dwelt upon crashes, the IIHS contends that back and neck injuries caused by collisions from behind are becoming more of an issue and they would like to see automakers address this problem with more research and development.

Follow the link to read the full report.

Researchers in Germany are developing a vehicle safety system that sounds like something straight out of science-fiction.

The door and frame connection of a car is a weak spot in side collisions. After detecting an impending impact via mounted cameras and radar sensors, the experimental German safety system sends out an electric charge to the shape-memory alloy on the door. The alloy expands from the heat, which serves to reinforce the door-frame bond. The researchers are currently testing prototypes and plan to start full test crashes with vehicles in 2008.

[Source: New Scientist Tech via Cars!Cars!Cars!]

While new vehicles continue to sprout ever-increasing numbers of safety features, traffic fatalities still hit a 15-year high in 2005, notching 43,200 fatalities according to a recent release by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). This represents an increase of 1.2 percent over 2004, while miles traveled only increased by 0.03% to a jaw-dropping 2.964 trillion. The projected death rate is still only 1.46 per 100 million miles traveled, which is only a slight increase from the record low of 1.44 in 2004 (which suggests that most means that motorists should spend less time worrying about automotive safety and put more effort into improving their health).

Deaths in passenger cars fell by approximately 2 percent, while SUVs and light trucks saw a 4 percent increase in body count. The motorcycle death toll jumped by 7.7 percent last year and has now doubled in less than a decade. Tellingly, two-wheelers now account for nearly 10 percent of all traffic deaths. 

Seatbelts are now used by over 80 percent of drivers, but fully 55 percent of those who died in a car crash were not using one.

Related: Distracted driving may account for most accidents

[Source: The Detroit News]

 

Not too long ago there was a time when Kia didn't come time mind when it came to anything, let alone safety. If there is still any doubt, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has new results that may change all that -- they called the new Kia Sedona the best minivan they've tested yet. The Subaru Impreza also got top marks.

Tests conducted by the IIHS also prove what we already knew -- side impact airbags are a good thing. 2006 GM and DaimlerChrysler minivans and the Toyota Prius all tested poorly in side impact crashes without the optional bags, but with the option, the marks were much improved, even vaulting the Prius up to the top rating, "good." The Dodge Caravan/Chrysler Town and Country earned an "acceptable," while GM's minivans (Chevrolet Uplander, Buick Terraza, Pontiac Montana SV6 and Saturn Relay) moved up one rating to "marginal."

[Source: Detroit News]

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has altered its testing policy for frontal offset crashes, allowing automakers of top-rated vehicles to submit test data to verify before the institute issues a rating. Nine vehicles for 2006, including the Buick Lucerne (pictured), Hyundai Azera, and the Toyota RAV4, have already received good ratings based on submitted data from their automakers.

The IIHS instituted the new policy based on automakers' improvements in frontal crash protection. Note: only redesigned vehicles are eligible for this policy. The institute will still test 'substantially redesigned' models, and will also perform audits on eligible vehicles to verify automakers' data.

The IIHS plans to use resources freed from the new policy towards side-impact crash tests and avoidance technologies.

[Source: Associated Press via  Houston Chronicle]

Despite the Fusion earning the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s lowest side-impact rating recently, at least Ford can celebrate a victory in SUV safety as the Explorer Sport Trac has received the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s highest rating of five stars for both front and side impacts. The Sport Trac’s performance in the NHTSA’s tests mirrors that of the new Explorer, which was to be expected considering how much hardware they share. Also note that the crash test conducted by the IIHS and NHTSA are not related. At the moment it seems being awarded IIHS "Top Pick" status is worth more cred on the street than five stars from the NHTSA.

[Source: Ford]

In its latest round of side-impact testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has dinged the 2006 Ford Fusion with its lowest score for models not equipped with side airbags. In head-on testing, the mid-sizer fared significantly better, netting an 'acceptable' rating (the second-best ranking), but IIHS president Adrian Lund discounted the performance noting that “Nearly every car now earns good ratings in our frontal test.”

A Ford Motor Company spokesman indicated that side airbags and curtain airbags will be standard-fit on 2007 Fusions built after September, and the Blue Oval has requested additional testing for an example so-equipped.

Among its latest crash-test subjects, the 2006 BMW 3-Series and Lexus IS were awarded top ratings in both frontal and side impacts, and Acura's TSX and the Infiniti G35 rated as 'acceptable' under the new side impact testing procedures.

[Source: The Associated Press via MSNBC]