Daily Auto News Small Cars Getting Safer — Except One
Daily Auto News
Good news for economy car buyers: the smallest cars on the road are safer than they’ve ever been before. As long as you’re not interested in a Chrysler PT Cruiser, that is.
Kicking Tires reports, “The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently tested seven more 2009-model-year small cars and has now found that 11 of the 21 small cars it has tested have earned the top rating of Good in side crash tests. That’s up from the three out of 19 small cars tested in 2006 that earned that rating.”
Among the highest-scoring cars were the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe twins and the Ford Focus.
However, Autoblog notes, “The poorest performer of the group” was Chrysler’s PT Cruiser. It “also happens to be the oldest design. This being the case, it’s lowly ‘poor’ rating in side and rear crashes, due in large part to its ineffective head restraints and lack of rear side-mounted airbags, isn’t too shocking.”
The results highlight problems with exactly those two features. Edmunds Inside Line explains, “The latest report card is in from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and it finds that some 2009 model small cars, such as the 2009 Saturn Astra, the 2009 Suzuki SX4 and the Chrysler PT Cruiser, still need improvement when it comes to protecting occupants in side and rear crashes.”
In a press release, the IIHS lauds the automakers for including standard side head-curtain airbags in most small cars this year, but cautions that automakers have work left to do. “Many automakers haven’t paid as much attention to protection in rear crashes, compared with front and side,” the Institute writes. “Good seat/head restraints are key to preventing whiplash injuries. Neck sprain or strain is the most frequently reported crash injury in US insurance claims,” and rear-impact crashes, according to Institute data, are the most common type of car accident.
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