Have you seen those commercials on television today where they show new motor vehicles slamming into a solid wall with the crash dummies in the car? If so, you should be comforted to know that every single car sold in the United States must pass a variety of different safety tests and crash safety tests before it is added to the market. These tests are run by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This agency is dedicated to reducing the number of injuries and deaths that occur on the nation’s roadways each year by testing the cars that are sold within the country.
The number of car crashes in this country is declining each year as well as the number of fatalities that occur as a result of these crashes and the reason for this is the use of crash test dummies during crash testing. The crash test dummies are equipped with three main pieces of equipment that include accelerometers, load sensors, and motion sensors that help the crash test staff determine whether or not a vehicle can be deemed safe. The dummies come in all shapes and sizes to represent different body sizes of males and females. They also represent children as well, in car seats or in regular seats.
The top safety picks for the calendar year 2009 as rated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety are separated into the groups of large cars, midsize cars, midsize convertibles, small cars, minivans, minicars, large SUVs, midsize SUVs, small SUVs, large pickups and small pickups. The top safety picks for 2009 for large cars are the Acura RL, the Audi A6, the Cadillac CTS, the Ford Taurus, the Lincoln MKS, the Mercury Sable, the Toyota Avalon and the Volvo S80. The top safety picks for the calendar year 2009 for small midsize cars are the Acura TL, the Acura TSX, the Audi A3, the Audi A4, the BMW 3 Series, the Ford Fusion, the Honda Accord, the Mercedes S Class, the Mercury Milan, the Saab 9-3, the Subaru Legacy, the Volkswagen Jetta and the Volkswagen Passat.
The award winners for midsize convertibles are the Saab 9-3, the Volkswagen Eos and the Volvo C70. The small cars winners are the Honda Civic, the Mitsubishi Lancer, the Scion XB, the Subaru Impreza, the Toyota Corolla, and the Volkswagen Rabbit. The minicar winner is the Honda Fit. The minivan winners are the Honda Odyssey, the Hyundai Entourage, and the Kia Sedona. The Large SUV winners are the Audi Q7, the Buick Enclave, the Chevrolet Traverse, the GMC Acadia, and the Saturn Outlook. The midsize SUV winners are Acura MDX, the Acura RDX, the BMW X3, the BMW X5, the Ford Edge, the Ford Flex, the Ford Taurus X, the Honda Pilot, the Hyundai Santa Fe, the Hyundai Veracruz, the Infiniti EX35, the Lincoln MKX, the Mercedes M Class, the Nissan Murano, the Saturn Vue, the Subaru Tribeca, the Toyota FJ Cruiser, the Toyota Highlander and the Volvo XC90. These crash test rating are released each year for every type of vehicle.
Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=360584&ca=Automotive
