New crash tests -- Small cars take a bashing for science
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has just released the findings of its latest set of crash tests. On this occasion, seven small 2009-model cars were selected for a thorough walloping while dummies were sacrificed on the altar of research. These mangled seven are the Chevrolet HHR, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra, Saturn Astra, Suzuki SX4 and the Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe (the last two are basically the same car with different badges). And just for good measure, the IIHS decided to trash a Mini Cooper as well, but this was classified as a mini car.
Sales of compact cars have been on the rise recently, in reaction to the gas price spike (and few would wager that the current downturn is anything other than temporary). These machines usually do well in front-end crashes, but not so hot during side and rear crashes. So all eight scored Good (out of Good, Average, Marginal and Poor) when meeting a frontal offset irresistible force homing in at 40 mph.
>>>Click here for the IIHS Crash test findings.
Although side-impact results are better for newer models...
with side airbags, the PT Cruiser is showing its age with a Poor rating in this category. And, oh dear, another Poor for a rear-ender-bender. The top scorers are the Focus, Matrix/Vibe and the Mini, although none get a clean sweep of Good-ness in all three tests. “There’s no escaping the laws of physics,” says Joe Nolan, the institute’s senior vice president. “People in larger, heavier cars fare better in crashes with other vehicles and in single-vehicle crashes than people in smaller ones.”
The institute’s method for side-impact evaluations are based on a crash test in which the side of a vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 31 mph. The barrier represents the front end of a pickup or SUV. Ratings reflect injury measures recorded on two wired-up dummies, assessment of head protection countermeasures and the vehicle’s structural performance during impact.
Rear-crash protection is rated according to a two-step procedure. Starting points for the ratings are measurements of head restraint geometry -- the height of a restraint and its horizontal distance behind the back of the head of an average-size man. Seat/head restraints with good or acceptable geometry are tested using a dummy that measures forces on the neck. The test simulates a collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 mph. Seats without good or acceptable geometry are rated poor overall because they can’t be positioned to protect many people. “In stop and go commuter traffic, you’re more likely to get in a rear-end collision than any other kind of crash,” Nolan says.
Nolan feels that many automakers haven’t paid as much attention to protection in rear crashes, compared with front and side. The institute states that good seat/head restraints are key to preventing whiplash injuries. Neck sprain or strain is the most frequently reported crash injury in U.S. insurance claims.
Nolan also calls on car manufacturers to make electronic stability control (ESC) standard. ESC helps reduce rollovers, especially fatal single-vehicle ones. When ESC senses a vehicle is becoming unstable, it engages automatically to help the driver regain control and put the vehicle back in the intended direction of travel. According to the IIHS, ESC lowers fatal rollover crash risk by as much as 70%. “Cars aren’t involved in rollovers as often as SUVs and pickups,” says Nolan, “but when they do roll the consequences can be deadly. The smallest cars that need this crash avoidance feature the most often don’t have it.” Among the cars in this round of tests, only the Chevrolet HHR and Pontiac Vibe have ESC as standard. It isn’t available at all on the PT Cruiser and optional on the rest.
Winners of the institute’s 2009 top safety picks in the small car category are the Honda Civic sedan (except the Si model), Toyota Corolla, Scion xB, Subaru Impreza and the four-door Volkswagen Rabbit.
Picture: IIHS