Nissan has had a successful year with the Nissan Juke, Cube, Leaf and Infiniti M37/56  on the list of 2011 top safety picks. Today, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded the 2011 Nissan Juke a “Top Safety Pick” rating. The Juke earned this award by earning a “good” rating in front, rear and side impact protection, coupled with electronic stability control as well as good roof strength.

“Nissan’s commitment to safety and innovation is reflected in the Nissan Juke receiving the Top Safety Pick from IIHS,” said Brian Carolin, senior vice president, Sales and Marketing, Nissan North America, Inc. “The Nissan Juke has a unique combination of motorsports-inspired design and unexpected levels of technology and safety features– all with a starting MSRP under $19,000.”

All 2011 Juke models come equipped with the Nissan Advanced Air Bag System (AABS) with dual-stage, dual-threshold front air bags as well as seat belt and occupant classification sensors. There are also roof-mounted curtain side-impact supplemental air bags for front and rear outboard occupant head protection. There are also seat mounted driver and front passendger side-impact supplemental air bags and front-seat Active Head Restraints. Other standard equipment includes LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) system, Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) and Traction Control System (TCS).

Check out our review of the Nissan Juke, and JukeForums.com for more info.

Drum roll please! Making its way onto the prestigious Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award is the redesigned 2011 Lincoln MKX. This designation only applies 2011 MKX’s built after February 2011.

The 2011 MKX is in good company – it joins the Lincoln MKS flagship sedan, MKT three-row premium utility and MKZ luxury sedan. To earn the IIHS’s Top Safety Pick, vehicles must have a earn a “good” rating offset frontal-, side- and rear-impact crash tests and roof strength evaluations, and they must also come with standard electronic stability control. Adding to their safety, all Lincoln models feature a number of safety technologies such as advanced radar warning systems. The 2011 MKX features a solid unibody construction, which provides an energy-absorbing structure to help protect occupants, as well as bumper-to-bumper flow-through side rails, structural design and A-pillars, all of which are designed to better manage crash energy.

“New Lincoln models feature some of the most innovative safety technologies, and we are delighted that all are now rated ‘Top Safety Picks’ by the IIHS,” said Scott Tobin, director, Lincoln Product Development. “Prestige and safety go hand in hand, and this is proof that Lincoln offers safety as another compelling reason to buy.”

Click here to read AutoGuide’s 2011 Lincoln MKX Review

The roads just got a little safer, because the Hyundai Equus just earned a 2011 Top Safety Pick Award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

Earning top ratings from the IIHS’s evaluation, the luxury sedan scored good for front, side, rollover, and rear crash protection, and it also has electronic stability control (another requirement to winning the award). It also passed the roof strength test for rollover protection – it withstood a force equal to 4.87 times the car’s weight. To earn a good rating for the IIHS’s roof strength test, vehicles must have a strength-to-weight ratio of 4 or higher (in comparison, the current federal standard is 1.5 times weight).

GALLERY: Hyundai Equus

[Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety]

Thinking of buying one of the greenest vehicles on the market, but not sure if safe for the environment also translates into safety for you and yours? That’s no longer an issue and the latest Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tests have just come in for the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf with both electrified cars achieving a Top Safety Pick award.

What that means is that the cars earned a ‘Good’ rating in front, side, rear and rollover crashes – undergoing the same rigorous tests that regular cars do.

The Leaf and Volt now join a list of 80 other Top Safety Pick vehicles for the 2011 model year.

Read AutoGuide’s 2011 Chevy Volt review here.

If you don’t succeed, try, try again. And that’s just what Ford did – when the 2011 Edge and Lincoln MKX didn’t make the cut for Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award, they made improvements to roof strength, and finally got the thumbs up from the IIHS.

These midsize SUVs jumped from acceptable to good for roof strength in rollover crashes to earn the Top Safety pick award. In order to pick up this prize, vehicles must earn the top rating of good for front, side, rollover, and rear crash protection, and they must have electronic stability control as a standard feature (ESC).

In the IIHS’s roof strength evaluation, the Edge and the Lincoln MKX withstood a force equal to 4.7 times the vehicles’ weight. To earn a good rating, vehicles must achieve a strength-to-weight ratio of 4 or higher. Only models produced after February, 2011 can boast TSP certification.

[Source: IIHS]

Drum roll please! The 2011 Mazda 3 is the latest vehicle to make it as a Top Safety Pick, after earning the top rating of good for roof strength in rollover crashes, as well as for front, side, and rear crash protection.

The sedan/hatchback drove away with a Top Safety Pick in the small cars category. It’s the first Mazda to achieve this rating since the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) had changed its criteria, making it more difficult for vehicles to earn a good rating.

To rate the 4-door sedan and hatchback versions, the Mazda 3 had to go through two tests. The roof of the sedan withstood a force equal to 5.32 times the car’s weight, while the roof of the hatchback withstood a force equal to 5.09 times its weight. To earn a good rating in the IIHS test, vehicles must have a strength-to-weight ratio of 4 or higher. The Mazda 3 also features electronic stability control (ESC), which comes standard on the 2011 model.

The award for the Mazda 3 only applies to those cars built after December 2010, as the automaker made changes to the roof structure to improve roof strength.

Another one makes the cut. Add the 2012 Volvo S60 to the list of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Top Safety Pick award winners. That means it earned good performance ratings for front, side, rollover, and rear crash protection. It also comes with standard electronic stability control (ESC), which is also needed to win this award.

It has been a few years since the S60 has picked up a Top Safety Pick. In previous years, the S60 sedan only earned good ratings in the Institute’s front and rear evaluations, but when it came to the side impact test, it was only rated acceptable (in previous models, they weren’t tested for roof strength in rollover crashes).

But that’s old news, and the good news is that the new model has made the grade when it came to testing side impact and roof strength tests. The IIHS found that the roof of the S60 withstood a force equal to 4.95 times the car’s weight. Right now, the current federal standard is 1.5 times weight.

[Source: Autoblog]

The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety awarded the Mazda 3 with its Top Pick honor in the small car category. The Mazda3 met the criteria by scoring a “Good” rating in all crash test categories (front, side, rear and rollover) and has electronic stability control.

The Mazda3 is the first car from the automaker to score a Top Pick since the IIHS enacted new roof strength regulations, but it is also joined by 12 other small cars in receiving the accolade, including the Honda Civic, Chevrolet Cruze and Kia Forte.

While the Mazda3 was judged to be capable of withstanding forces on the roof equal to more than five times the vehicle’s weight, the IIHS noted that injuries to the pelvis, ribs and right leg are possible, although the risk is low.

[Source: KickingTires]

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has bestowed their Top Safety Pick to the 2011 Honda Odyssey as well as the GM crossovers, which includes the Buick Enclave, Chevy Traverse and GM Acadia.

The three GM vehicles all share the Lambda platform. The GMC Acadia was the guinea pig that ran the gamut of tests, and since the other two are built on the same platform, Buick and Chevrolet can also tout the award in their ad campaigns.

The Odyssey is only the second minivan to win the IIHS’s top award, next to the Toyota Sienna, and it did so by demonstrating great results during the new roof strength tests that were added to the criteria recently.

The GMC Acadia’s roof took four times its weight during testing, and the Odyssey five; the IIHS requires merely 1.5 times the roof’s own weight to pass.

[Source: Autoblog]

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has named the Mini Countryman its “2011 Top Safety Pick,” the first Mini to do so.

The sort-of-SUV received “Good” ratings in front, side, rollover, and rear impact protection, ensuring that owners won’t get beat up if they ever take theirs rally racing. The Countryman comes with electronic stability control standard and was able to take 5 times its own weight on the roof, while federal standards only need 1.5 times weight.

Click the jump for the full press release from Mini.

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You may hate to get those annoying tickets in the mail, but the stats are in – red light cameras help save lives in the big cities around the U.S.

According to a new analysis by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), red light cameras have saved 159 lives from 2004 to 2008 in 14 of the biggest U.S. cities. The IIHS goes on to say that 815 deaths would have been prevented if the cameras had been in place during that period in all large cities in the country.

“The cities that have the courage to use red light cameras despite the political backlash are saving lives,” says IIHS president Adrian Lund.

The IIHS came up with their findings after examining 99 U.S. cities with populations over 200,000. They compared those with red light camera programs to those without. The researchers compared two periods – 2004-08 and 1992-96 – so they could see how the rate of fatal crashes changed after the introduction of cameras.

In their findings, the IIHS concluded that in the 14 cities that had cameras during 2004-08, the combined per capita rate of fatal red light running crashes fell 35 percent, compared with 1992-96. The rate of fatal red light running crashes also fell in the 48 cities without camera programs in either period, but only by 14 percent.

If you’re looking to feel safe of the roads, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has given the thumbs up to the 2011 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300. These cars have driven away with the IIHS’s Top Safety Pick designations after achieving good ratings for front, side, rollover, and rear impact protection.

When a vehicle wins a Top Safety Pick award, it means that it has been recognized by the IIHS as offering the best overall crash protection. These vehicles must also come standard with electronic stability control (ESC), an important crash-avoidance feature.

To win this award, Chrysler brought its safety game to the table and really improved the safety of the 2011 Charger. It’s interesting to note that the last generation of the Charger and 300 earned the second lowest rating of ‘marginal’ for side impact protection (and that’s including the head-protecting side curtain airbags installed in the cars). This also marks the first time these vehicles have been rated in the Institute’s roof strength test for rollover protection – and they passed with flying colors. The roof of the Charger withstood a force equal to 5.37 times the car’s weight (the current federal standard is 1.5 times weight).

Read AutoGuide’s 2011 Chrysler 300 Review Here

Read AutoGuide’s 2011 Dodge Charger Review Here

It’s a banner year for safety, as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) doled out its Top Safety Pick award for 2011 to 66 vehicles – double that of last year.

The list of recipients, which includes 40 cars, 25 SUVs, and a minivan, were picked based on their ability to protecting people in front, side, rollover, and rear crashes based on good ratings in Institute tests. Vehicles must have electronic stability control, a crash avoidance feature that significantly reduces crash risk to earn this honor. The IIHS ratings help consumers pick vehicles that offer a higher level of protection than federal safety standards require.

And making it onto this year’s list was quite the feat, as the IIHS toughened its criteria for Top Safety Pick. This time around, vehicles had to earn a good rating for performance in a roof strength test to assess protection in a rollover crash. At first, this new criteria cut the list of potential 2010 winners, with only 27 vehicles qualifying for the award. But the number grew to 58 as auto manufacturers reworked existing designs and introduced new models. Now another 10 vehicles join the winners’ list for 2011.

The front runners of this year’s awards go to Hyundai/Kia and Volkswagen/Audi who each have 9 winners for 2011. Following with 8 awards apiece are General Motors, Ford/Lincoln, and Toyota/Lexus/Scion. Subaru is the only manufacturer with a winner in all the vehicle classes in which it competes, earning 5 awards for 2011.

Take a look at the list of winners after the jump and we’d like to offer our congrats to all the vehicles that made it to the top.

[Source: IIHS]

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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has released their list of booster seats they do and do not recommend. On the recommended side, there’s been a significant growth this past year, with 21 Best Bets and seven Good Bets. Out of 72 booster seats the safety organization tested, eight booster seats didn’t get recommended.

For a booster seat to earn a Best Bet or Good Bet nod, it must properly position a three-point seat belt over a 6-year-old testing dummy. While performing these tests, IIHS experts measure seat-belt fit in a variety of vehicles. They also use high-back and backless booster seats as well as combination child-safety seats. The ratings do not take into account any type of crash tests.

According to the IIHS, children ages 4-8 who are placed in booster seats are 45 percent less likely to be injured in a car crash than children using only seat belts.

Read the lists of IIHS’ Best Bets, Good Bets and seats not recommended after the jump.

[Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety]

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The most recent vehicle to earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award is the 2011 Buick Regal. This means that the Regal joins other winners including LaCrosse, Audi A4, Lincoln MKZ, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Ford Fiesta and Hyundai Genesis that also many the Top Safety Picks for 2010.

All Top Safety Picks must have good ratings in the front, side, rear, and roof strength tests, and electronic stability control must be available.

“The Buick Regal is not only catching the attention of consumers with its design and responsive driving performance but also by being a leader in its class for safety,” said John Schwegman, vice president of Buick Marketing.  “The IIHS Top Safety Pick Award acknowledges our commitment to offering our customers great safety systems that enhance their driving experience.”

One of the most important conditions to getting this award is the roof strength test. The Regal withstood a force equivalent to about five times its weight; the federal standard is one-and-a-half times the vehicle’s weight.

Great news for Ford – the 2011 Fiesta earned a 2010 Top Safety Pick from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). This marks the first time a mini-car has picked up an award since the introduction of a new roof strength test.

And if that was reason enough to celebrate, this nod also makes it the eighth Ford vehicle to earn the Institute’s top designation, which means it has the most “Top Safety Picks” of any automaker.

Helping it pick up a win is the fact that Fiesta is made from high-strength steels, and it features the company’s Trinity front crash structure, Side Protection And Cabin Enhancement (SPACE) Architecture and advanced airbag technologies. Outfitted with an energy-absorbing body structure, the Fiesta’s strength and stiffness helps to absorb and redirect crash forces away from the passenger compartment. It also comes with the most standard airbags in its class, as well as standard electronic stability control.

“Fiesta is proof that a small car can deliver big safety, and earning a Top Safety Pick further demonstrates Ford’s commitment to providing all of our customers with world-class crash protection,” said Sue Cischke, Ford’s group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “Fiesta combines rigidity and more airbags – smartly deployed – than its competition, as well as standard stability control.”

One of the unique safety features the Fiesta offers is a driver’s knee airbag. This airbag helps reduce lower leg injuries during a frontal collision and to work with other safety features. Other Fiesta safety features include dual-stage first-row airbags, side-impact airbags and side curtain airbags.

It’s good to be good – especially when you’re singled out for it. And that’s what the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just did with the 2011 Cadillac CTS and Infiniti M37/M56, which earned Top Pick Safety Awards in the large luxury class and earned the top rating of good in recent roof strength tests.

A roof strength tests assess how well vehicles would protect people in rollover crashes. The CTS and M37/M56 passed this test and also received good ratings in all four of the IIHS’s safety evaluations, and include electronic stability control, a feature that helps drivers avoid crashes altogether.

“The test results show that manufacturers are moving quickly to improve the rollover safety of their newest designs,” says Institute president Adrian Lund.

Eariler winners in the large luxury class include the BMW 5 series, Hyundai Genesis, Lincoln MKS, Mercedes E class, and Volvo S80.

Using a roof strength test, the Institute is able to evaluate rollover protection. In this particular test, a metal plate is pushed against one corner of a vehicle’s roof at a constant speed. The maximum force sustained by the roof before 5 inches of crush is compared to the vehicle’s weight to find the strength-to-weight ratio. This test is able to give a good assessment of vehicle structural protection in rollover crashes. Vehicles that are rated good have roofs that can withstand a force equal to at least 4 times the vehicle’s weight.

[Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety]

Read AutoGuide’s 2011 Infiniti M56x Review by Clicking Here

Read AutoGuide’s 2010 Cadillac CTS Review by Clicking Here

Luxury can also be safe. The latest vehicle to win an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award is the Cadillac SRX, a midsize luxury SUV. It earned the IIHS’s top safety designation after getting a good rating for rollover protection. The Cadillac SRX had previously earned good ratings for front, side, and rear crash protection.

To earn a Top Safety Pick award, vehicles must earn the highest ratings in all four IIHS safety evaluations, as well as have electronic stability control (this comes standard on the SRX).

In order to evaluate rollover protection, the IIHS uses research of real-world crashes to conduct its roof strength test. To test for roof strength, a metal plate is pushed against one corner of a vehicle’s roof at a constant speed. The maximum force sustained by the roof before 5-inches of crush is compared to the vehicle’s weight to find the strength-to-weight ratio. This test gives a good assessment of vehicle structural protection in rollover crashes. Good rated vehicles have roofs that can withstand a force equal to at least 4 times the vehicle’s weight.

The 2010 SRX withstood a force equal to 4.14 times weight. For comparison, the current federal standard is 1.5 times weight.

For the 2010 model year, General Motors strengthened the roof structure. The Top Safety Pick award applies to models built after May 2010.

[Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety]

You can bet that BMW is celebrating this win. The redesigned 2011 BMW 5 series just earned good ratings in all four safety evaluations, garnering it an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick status among large cars.

Adding to the accolades is the fact that this first 5 series ever to earn the Top Safety Pick award, not to mention that its also the first BMW to accomplish this feat since the Institute implemented a new rollover test requirement.

Vehicles that earn Top Safety Picks earn the highest ratings for front, side, rollover, and rear crash protection, and that have electronic stability control (standard on the BMW) 5 series.

The biggest improvement was made with the good rating for side impact protection – the previous generation 5 was rated only marginal in the same test. An IIHS side impact test represents a hit from an SUV or pickup.

[Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety]

Read AutoGuide’s 2011 BMW 5 Series First Drive by Clicking Here

Forget all the jokes you’re heard about senior drivers. A new report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that fatal crash rates have dropped significantly with elderly drivers.

This report found that fatal car crashes for elderly drivers over 70 years old from 1997 to 2008 dropped dramatically by 37 percent. Even drivers who were over 80 years old were staying safe – the crash rates this group fell by almost half. For the rest of you young whipper snappers aged 35 to 54, you didn’t fare quite as well – the rates for this age group only dropped by 23 percent.

Even when it came to crashes that involved injuries, seniors over 80 years old came out ahead, declining 34 percent from 1997 to 2005 – that’s pretty good, especially when compared to a 16-percent decline for the 35 to 54 age group (those kids are always in a hurry to get somewhere). Senior drivers also saw a drop in crashes that involved property damage with no injuries, which were down 20 percent.

As for the results of this survey, the drops in car accident rates could stem from seniors who are policing their own driving behaviours – this could mean less driving or giving up their car altogether. Also helping keep elderly drivers safe are the polices put into place by 18 states, which include vision tests for older drivers, shorter licensing renewal periods, and prohibiting renewal by mail or electronically. And don’t forget that better health and physical conditioning may result in fewer crashes and help seniors fare better in accidents.

So any previous worries of having a large, aging population on the road seem to be less serious than once thought. However, no studies have been commissioned on the concern about the number of indicator signals that threaten to left on for miles and miles by this growing demographic – we’ll just have to continue to be annoyed until the issue is tackled.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

As time goes on and innovations are being implemented to existing safety products, you’d think that they would get, well, safer. But that might not be the case when it comes to the newest type of airbag, as a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows.

Raising all kinds of questions about airbags that were required in vehicles from 2004 to 2008, this IIHS study says that they may actually place drivers who wear their seat belts at a greater risk of death.

This research is based on statistical analysis of 3,600 driver and front-seat passenger deaths that were the result of frontal crashes between 2004 and 2007. While it found that the newest type of airbags helped unbelted people about the same as older airbags, belted drivers had a 21 percent greater chance of dying.

“It is possible that the systems are not making the right decisions,” said David Zuby, Senior Vice President for Vehicle Research at the IIHS. “Under previous requirements, air bags didn’t need to be quite so sophisticated.”

Even though the study didn’t come up with reasons why belted drivers are at greater risk, safety experts are throwing out a few explanations. The one that holds the most validity is that automakers design airbags for unbelted drivers, as they are required to test for this percentage of the driving population – even though 80 percent of drivers wear seat belts.

This research was presented in January at a convention of auto engineers, but hasn’t received widespread attention. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the organization that regulates air bags, met with the researchers and carmakers in March but hasn’t commented on the study, stating they had not had time to fully review it.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

The latest vehicles to earn membership into the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) 2010 Top Safety Pick Award club are Volkswagen, Audi and Hyundai.

Earning the highest rating possible from the non-profit research organization are the 2010 Audi A4 and Q5, Hyundai Tucson, Lincoln MKT, and Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen. Also making the list are the 2010 Ford Flex and Fusion.

Vehicles that are recognized with this award perform best when it comes to protecting passengers in the IIHS’s front, side, and rear crash test evaluations, as well as roof-strength test evaluations. These vehicles must also come standard with electronic stability control.

Says Mark Barnes, COO, Volkswagen Group of America, about their win: “From the initial vehicle designs in Germany, all the way to the production plants, Volkswagen upholds safety to the highest level of importance. To have such a distinguished group as the IIHS recognize the 2010 Jetta SportWagen with the Top Safety Pick award is a realization of the care, safety, and precision we strive for with every Volkswagen we build.”

In order to earn membership into this exclusive club, vehicles must earn “Good” (the IIHS’s highest rating in testing) for roof strength in rollover crashes. To measure roof strength, a metal plate is pushed against one corner of a vehicle’s roof at a constant speed. The maximum force sustained by the roof before 5 inches of crush is compared to the vehicle’s weight to find the strength-to-weight ratio. This is a good assessment of vehicle structural protection in rollover crashes. Good rated vehicles have roofs that can withstand a force equal to at least 4 times the vehicle’s weight. For comparison, the current federal standard is 1.5 times weight.

[Source: IIHS, Volkswagen]

Ford announced today that five of their vehicles have been selected as Top Safety Picks By The IIHS, boosting their total to 11 vehicles. The 2010 Ford Flex and Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and MKT and the Mercury Milan all scored the highest possible ratings in the IIHS’s front, side and rear impact tests as well as their roof strength test. The ratings mean that Ford now leads the industry in Top Safety Picks as well as government five-star crash ratings.

Hit the jump to read the official press release

[Source: Ford]

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