Institute releases safe car list

CTVNEWS

Impreza first small car to make top safety list

CTV.ca News Staff Published Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:16AM EST

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The Subaru Impreza has smashed through a barrier to become the first small car to qualify for honours from the U.S.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The Impreza is one of 34 cars to receive the Top Safety Pick award for 2008.

See below for a full list of winners

The award is given to vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side and rear crashes, as determined by the institute's testing methods.

The winners must also be equipped with electronic stability control.

Steve Oesch, of the IIHS, told CTV's Canada AM it's difficult for small cars to receive the top safety rating.

"With a small car, you have less room to crush up in the front of the vehicle, in the frontal impact, so that's going to make it more difficult for it to perform well," Oesch said from Washington.

"But the Subaru Imprezza did well on our front tests, our side tests and our rear impact test, and when it's equipped with optional stability control, it is one of our top safety picks."

It's also the first year a pickup truck has made the list, with the Toyota Tundra meeting all the institute's criteria, Oesch said.

"Up until now there have been very few pickups that have had the side-impact air bags that provide protection in a side impact and the Toyota Tundra is one of the first pickups to include those," he said.

"In addition, it has electronic stability control, which is going to help you in an emergency situation to keep the vehicle under control."

The minivan category includes the Honda Odyssey, Kia Sedona and Hyundai Entourage. The Audi A6 and Volvo S80 were among the safest large cars, and the Honda CRV, Element and Subaru Forester with optional ESC were the winners in the small SUV category.

The large SUV category had the most winners, with 15, including the BMW X3 and X5 and Toyota Highlander.

"SUVs are certainly big sellers now and fortunately we're seeing a lot of manufacturers are paying attention to designing them correctly so that they're going to provide protection in a frontal, side or rear impact," Oesch said.

"And fortunately more of them are being equipped with electronic stability control, which is going to help you keep your vehicle under control in an emergency situation."

Automakers in general seem to be making more and more of an effort to meet higher safety standards.

The number of vehicles that meet the criteria for 2008 has more than doubled -- meaning there are more models on the Top Safety Picks list than ever before, the institute said.

"At the beginning of the 2007 model year, 13 models qualified, but as manufacturers have made changes and introduced new and safer vehicle designs, 10 additional vehicles qualified during the year. Now another 11 vehicles are being added for 2008," states a news release from the organization.

A list of all the winners:

Large Cars: