 Top
Safety Picks 2009
To determine crashworthiness — how well a vehicle protects its occupants in
a crash — the Institute rates vehicles good, acceptable, marginal, or poor
based on performance in high-speed front and side crash tests, plus evaluations
of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts. To
earn Top Safety Pick for 2009 a vehicle must have good ratings
in all three Institute tests. In addition, the winning vehicles must offer electronic
stability control.
40 mph frontal offset crash tests are good assessments of vehicles'
structural designs.
Frontal offset crash test details, ratings criteria,
and crash test verification program
Side crash tests are good assessments of occupant protection when
vehicles are struck in the side by SUVs or pickups.
Side impact crash test details, ratings criteria,
and crash test verification program
Vehicles equipped with side airbag protection
systems
Rear crash protection/head restraint ratings focus on how well
seat/head restraint combinations protect against whiplash injury.
Procedures for rating seat/head
restraints
Rear crash protection ratings by make:
NEW Roof crush rating system
— The Institute's roof strength rating system will help consumers pick vehicles
that will help protect them in rollover crashes. Roof strength will become a component
of the Top Safety Pick criteria for 2010 models.
Procedures for rating roof strength
Minicars: roof strength details
Small SUVs: roof strength details
Electronic stability control (ESC) significantly reduces crash
risk, especially the risk of fatal single-vehicle crashes, by helping drivers maintain
control of their vehicles during emergency maneuvers.
Vehicles equipped with ESC by make and model
Bumper evaluations — The Institute's series of 4 tests (front and rear full-width impacts at 6 mph and front and rear corner impacts at 3 mph) produce the kinds and amounts of damage that commonly occur in low-speed collisions.
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