Top Safety Vehicles for 2012

Top Safety Vehicles for 2012

The list of winners of the 2012 Top Safety Pick award for vehicles with the highest levels of crash protection is longer than ever this year.

2012 Honda Accord on the crushing device to test roof strength for rollover protection: In the Institute's roof strength test, a metal plate is pushed against 1 side of a roof at a constant speed. To earn a good rating, the roof must withstand a force of 4 times the vehicle's weight before reaching 5 inches of crush. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

On Thursday, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit financed by the insurance industry, released its 2012 list of vehicles with the best crash test ratings, and some in nearly every size category evaluated earned accolades.

The award recognizes vehicles that do the best job protecting people in all four of the most common kinds of crashes. According to the institute, automakers strengthened roofs to meet the rollover performance requirement it added in 2010.

“For the second year running a record number of models qualify,” Adrian Lund, the institute’s president said in a statement. “It’s tough to win, and we commend auto manufacturers for making safety a top priority.”

This year, 115 vehicles made the list: 69 cars, 38 SUVs, 5 minivans, and 3 pickups.

Every major automaker had at least one winner, as was the case last year. Subaru, the institute noted, remained the only manufacturer that earned awards for every model it built in 2012, for a total of five awards.

Toyota had the most vehicles of any automaker, earning top ratings for 15 models, including Lexus and Scion. The Camry made the list for the first time since Toyota redesigned the 2012 model’s seat/head restraint design for rear impact protection. General Motors has 14 models on the list, followed by Volkswagen/Audi with 13. Ford/Lincoln and Honda/Acura each earned 12 awards.

Ten of the 18 new vehicles added to the list for 2012 are Honda/Acura models, including the midsize Accord sedan.

“Honda/Acura deserves credit for most-improved status,” said Lund. “The automaker buckled down and upgraded roofs on 10 models that missed winning last year because of rollover protection. Now, the automaker has winners in the minicar, small car, midsize car, small SUV, midsize SUV, minivan, and large pickup categories.”

The institute said that vehicles that received good ratings for rollover protection had roofs more than twice as strong as required by the current federal standard, and estimated that such roofs reduced the risk of serious and fatal injury in single-vehicle rollovers by about 50 percent compared with roofs that met the minimum requirement. A new federal standard for roof strength will phase in beginning with 2013 models, according to the institute.


There are also more green choices this year


Fifteen winners are hybrids, including the Toyota Prius v. The plug-in electric Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf, winners in 2011, are also on this year’s list.


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