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Here's a big revelation... 
Most mid-size passenger cars don't adequately protect occupants when struck in the side by a pickup truck or SUV, even if they have side airbags, according to a new test of cars conducted by the insurance industry. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said 12 of 15 midsize family cars earned the lowest possible rating in a test that simulates a full-size pickup truck or SUV "T-boning" the car at 31 miles per hour. The test results - the first for passenger cars - come at a time when regulators and automakers are moving to change the front-end designs of trucks and SUVs to make them less lethal to smaller passenger cars in crashes.
The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord equipped with optional side airbags are the only mass-market midsize cars to earn good ratings, which means the likelihood of serious injuries would be low. The Chevy Malibu tested with optional side head-protection airbags was rated "acceptable," because no torso protection is included in Malibu's airbags. Twelve others: Camry, Accord and Malibu without side airbags; Suzuki Verona, Mazda6, Dodge Stratus, Chrysler Sebring; Nissan Altima, Saturn L-Series, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, and Mitsubishi Galant all earned "poor" ratings. The Galant, Altima, Stratus, Sebring, and Mazda6 were tested without optional airbags because the companies were not willing to reimburse IIHS for the optional features. The Suzuki Verona does not offer side airbags. The Saturn L-Series and Hyundai were tested with standard side bags.
IIHS president Brian O'Neill says his group's front-crash tests have spurred design and technology to make most cars far safer than they used to be in head-on collisions. "We believe this new test will drive similar improvements in protection for occupants in side crashes," says O'Neill.
Not all side airbags are created equal. The Camry and Accords that scored well have side curtain bags that deploy from the roof down, which protect heads, plus torso airbags for front-seat occupants. Without airbags, the barrier struck the driver and occupant heads resulting in serious injury. The Malibu, which doesn't have torso airbags, scored well, but lower. In the case of the Hyundai, a combination head/torso side airbag that deploys from the side of the seat protected the driver, but not the rear-seat occupant. Saturn's side curtain bag didn't adequately protect the "short-woman" crash dummy as her head slid under the deployed airbag.
Side impacts are the second most common fatal type of crash after front crashes. The IIHS says 9600 people were killed in side crashes in 2002, the last year for which data is available. And in crashes between two vehicles more driver deaths occur in vehicles struck in the side than in the front, says O'Neill. Accident research by the IIHS shows side airbags with head protection reduce deaths by 45 percent among drivers of cars struck on the driver side. The IIHS test uses a moving deformable 3300-pound barrier shaped like the front of an SUV that slams into the driver side of the vehicle at 31 mph. Two crash dummies, representing a short woman and 12-year-old child in the back seat are inside. The National Highway Safety Administration is developing its own updated side-impact test, which would inevitably result in design changes to both cars and light trucks, as well as forcing some automakers to make side airbags standard equipment.
The auto industry, trying to head off regulation, has agreed to voluntary design changes for pickups and SUVs making them more compatible with passenger cars by 2008. At least 50 percent of vehicles will be designed for greater compatibility by 2007. Automakers say the design changes alone should reduce side-impact crash fatalities by 28 percent. - Jim Burt
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=7057&sid=173&n=156
Most mid-size passenger cars don't adequately protect occupants when struck in the side by a pickup truck or SUV, even if they have side airbags, according to a new test of cars conducted by the insurance industry. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said 12 of 15 midsize family cars earned the lowest possible rating in a test that simulates a full-size pickup truck or SUV "T-boning" the car at 31 miles per hour. The test results - the first for passenger cars - come at a time when regulators and automakers are moving to change the front-end designs of trucks and SUVs to make them less lethal to smaller passenger cars in crashes.
The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord equipped with optional side airbags are the only mass-market midsize cars to earn good ratings, which means the likelihood of serious injuries would be low. The Chevy Malibu tested with optional side head-protection airbags was rated "acceptable," because no torso protection is included in Malibu's airbags. Twelve others: Camry, Accord and Malibu without side airbags; Suzuki Verona, Mazda6, Dodge Stratus, Chrysler Sebring; Nissan Altima, Saturn L-Series, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, and Mitsubishi Galant all earned "poor" ratings. The Galant, Altima, Stratus, Sebring, and Mazda6 were tested without optional airbags because the companies were not willing to reimburse IIHS for the optional features. The Suzuki Verona does not offer side airbags. The Saturn L-Series and Hyundai were tested with standard side bags.
IIHS president Brian O'Neill says his group's front-crash tests have spurred design and technology to make most cars far safer than they used to be in head-on collisions. "We believe this new test will drive similar improvements in protection for occupants in side crashes," says O'Neill.
Not all side airbags are created equal. The Camry and Accords that scored well have side curtain bags that deploy from the roof down, which protect heads, plus torso airbags for front-seat occupants. Without airbags, the barrier struck the driver and occupant heads resulting in serious injury. The Malibu, which doesn't have torso airbags, scored well, but lower. In the case of the Hyundai, a combination head/torso side airbag that deploys from the side of the seat protected the driver, but not the rear-seat occupant. Saturn's side curtain bag didn't adequately protect the "short-woman" crash dummy as her head slid under the deployed airbag.
Side impacts are the second most common fatal type of crash after front crashes. The IIHS says 9600 people were killed in side crashes in 2002, the last year for which data is available. And in crashes between two vehicles more driver deaths occur in vehicles struck in the side than in the front, says O'Neill. Accident research by the IIHS shows side airbags with head protection reduce deaths by 45 percent among drivers of cars struck on the driver side. The IIHS test uses a moving deformable 3300-pound barrier shaped like the front of an SUV that slams into the driver side of the vehicle at 31 mph. Two crash dummies, representing a short woman and 12-year-old child in the back seat are inside. The National Highway Safety Administration is developing its own updated side-impact test, which would inevitably result in design changes to both cars and light trucks, as well as forcing some automakers to make side airbags standard equipment.
The auto industry, trying to head off regulation, has agreed to voluntary design changes for pickups and SUVs making them more compatible with passenger cars by 2008. At least 50 percent of vehicles will be designed for greater compatibility by 2007. Automakers say the design changes alone should reduce side-impact crash fatalities by 28 percent. - Jim Burt
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=7057&sid=173&n=156
