American cars didn’t land a single spot in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s second annual Top Safety Pick survey, which lists the vehicles that best protect passengers in crashes.
The biggest winner among the 13 selections for the 2007 survey, released late Monday, was Japan. Honda Motor Co. and Fuji Heavy Industries Co. produce six of the vehicles. Germany’s Volkswagen AG, through its Audi subsidiary, and DaimlerChrysler AG, manufacture three of the selected models.
South Korea and Sweden each produced two winning models.
One Swedish car that made the list, the Volvo XC90, is a brand owned by Ford Motor Co. The other, the Saab 9-3, is a brand owned by General Motors Corp.
Ford and GM domestic brands missed the list because the IIHS now requires that vehicles picked in the survey have electronic stability control, which the industry group said significantly reduces crash risk. Electronic stability control, a system that brakes or reduces engine power to help correct improper steering, could prevent nearly a third of all fatal crashes and reduce the risk of rolling over by as much as 80 percent, the IIHS said.
1. As someone who rallied cars back in the day, I’m pleased to see the IIHS accept that features aiding in crash avoidance are as critical as items designed to help you survive a crash.
2. There isn’t anything “magic” about the technology offered as standard or optional in any of these cars. US auto manufacturers are absolutely capable of giving us the option — or building in additional safety. They choose not to.
And consumers will continue to choose other brands.
I’d be interested in seeing ALL the raw data that these organizations have available to them.
I have a friend who, until recently, worked for the FDOT in their research department in Langley VA. As of a couple of years ago he said that oddly enough, although vehicles with electronic stability control were less likely to be involved in multi-car accidents, they were MUCH more likely to be involved in single car accidents… i.e. somebody just running off the road and hitting a tree. At that time they hadn’t yet attempted to draw any conclusions as to the cause.
Nice information but not the complete picture. For a full breakdown of vehicle safety information check out.
http://www.informedforlife.org/
Select VEHICLE RANKINGS LISTS on the left side of the page.
Stability control is just one part… For overall safety my personal experience agrees with this research. I had two big accidents. One beeing hit in front by jacknifed tractor trailer in my Honda. Car totaled, me unscratched and the passanger compartment undisturbed (I could open and close door while the front/engine properly collapsed to next to nothing and absorbed the impact). Second one in my Subaru, beeing hit in a worst way, in the side (doors) by Chevy Suburban. Again, I got out without a scratch, car needed new doors but was driveable! (Drove it over 75 miles home and later to repair). Suburban? Towed away, totaled from what I have seen…
So which one of the Japanese automakers has a semi-sized car with three lighted cupholders per passenger? I don’t want to sacrifice for my safety!
#1. I think a rumored statistical point like more ESC equipped cars hitting immovable objects, would kinda stand out and be noticed – certainly by the lawyers of crash victims. I don’t doubt what you suggest is plausible, but ESC has been around for many years and has saved more lives than margarine, so we can’t discredit that technology purely on the basis of hear-say.
if it says “made in america”, those are watchwords for “complete crap, stay away from this”
Scrap the manufacturing, invest in biotech & r/d
ESC has been around for many years and has saved more lives than margarine, so we can’t discredit that technology purely on the basis of hear-say.
I didn’t intend to discredit it. A lot of people are also killed by seatbelts… that doesn’t mean that I don’t think wearing them is a good idea. Like I said before… raw data. They didn’t draw any inferences. Single vehicle accidents are one of the most common methods of suicide for adult males. Could be a correlation between suicidal males and those affluent enough to be vehicles equipped with ESC. Could be anything. I just thought it was interesting; I wasn’t trying to devalue your Delco stock.
#6 Not necessarily, if it is made by Ford, GM or Dodge then I would agree with your statement. However, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai also produce vehicles in the United States. Hyundai manufactures some of the safest vehicles on the list and backs them with the best warranty available in the US.
I had never seen the informedforlife website, thanks for the link.
But their conclusions are a bit dubious. Look at the section “Predicting Fatality Rates” – they say a correlation of less than .5 is significant! For those that don’t know, correlation measures the direction and strength of linear association. It varies from -1 to 1. The closer to zero, the more scattered the data. (meaning no linear association). 0.47 isn’t that great of an association…
It’s too bad that Saturn didn’t even make the list. Safety used to be the forefront of that company but I guess it isn’t anymore. That’s too bad.
#9 InformedForLife.org uses data fromthe NHTSA and IIHS (the government and insurance companies) to compile the spreadsheet. It is not perfect but it is the best I’ve seen.
My American-Made pickup truck that gets 10 mpg has cup holders that can hold two – 2L bottles of my favorite sugar-filled drinks. Try and beat that Japan!
#12 Nice to know someone has their priorities in order.