The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s awards can make or break a car’s future, something Subaru and Volvo know quite well.

Both manufacturers get to tout top honors in 2012 thanks to their safety-conscious cars. Subaru is now the only manufacturer that can claim IIHS Top Safety Picks for every one of their models.

Subaru won five awards in total to earn those bragging rights. ”It’s tough to win, and we commend Subaru for making safety a top priority,” said Institute president Adrian Lund.

Bragging rights aside, there is another safety king in the ring and despite not scoring top picks on all their models, Volvo still managed to swing the same five awards.

Safety is a key concern for both companies, but Volvo has long been the industry leader in packing their cars with innovative features meant to keep passengers out of harm.

They were the first company to introduce blind spot detection and are crediting this year’s wins to their innovative City Safety technology. At low speeds it offers an automatic braking feature that the IIHS found to reduce collisions by as much as 22 percent.

Volvo achieved the most Top Safety Picks of any luxury brand, beating out Audi, Acura, Infiniti, Lexus and BMW. Mercedes-Benz tied Volvo for first in the luxury segment, also garnering five awards.

In a display of continuing safety advancements in automobiles, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported that more vehicles have earned the “top safety pick” this year after manufacturers have strengthened the roofs of their vehicles to improve its rollover safety.

Sixty-nine cars, thirty-eight SUVs, five minivans, and three pickups made the “top safety pick” list after passenger safety crashes to the front, side and rear, as well as rollover.

Toyota Motor Corp and Subaru especially excelled as Toyota’s list of top safety pick vehicles grew by three– the Yaris, Camry and Prius hybrid. Subaru is the only automaker to have its entire 2012 line-up earn the highest grade.

[Source: Automotive News]

Making its way on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick for 2012 is the all-new Buick Verano. This raises General Motors IIHS Top Safety Pick award count to 14 in 2012 – not too shabby.

Equipped with 10 standard air bags, the Verano came out with a good score in the IIHS tests for front and side crash tests, roof strength test, and rear impact test. The Verano also features standard electronic stability control, which the IIHS requires for Top Safety Pick designation.

“GM set a goal that every new product would be designed to meet or exceed the third-party metrics that IIHS and others use to communicate crash worthiness to consumers,” said Gay Kent, GM executive director of Vehicle Safety. “We are now seeing the results from that commitment.”

Of the GM vehicles that made it to IIHS’s 2012 Top Safety Pick award list, 13 models had previously qualified for the 2011 award. These vehicles were carried over to 2012 because its structure is substantially the same as the IIHS tested for 2011. Carrying over for 2012 awards are the Buick LaCrosse, Regal and Enclave; the Chevrolet Cruze, Sonic, Volt, Equinox, Malibu and Traverse; the Cadillac CTS (sedan) and SRX, and GMC Terrain and Acadia.

Congratulations are in order for Volkswagen. The Routan has just earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award, making it the ninth Volkswagen vehicle to receive this rating. This also means that Volkswagen has received the highest number of IIHS awards for vehicle safety.

Helping them reach this coveted spot, Volkswagen scored high marks with 2011 models including Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, CC, Passat, Tiguan, Touareg, Golf and GTI. To drive away with a Top Safety Pick award, vehicles must earn a rating of Good in the IIHS crash-test series, which includes front, side and rear crash tests, as well as pass the roof-strength test. That means that these VW vehicles provide the best overall protection in the most common accident situations.

“We’re delighted that the Routan has been given this prestigious award. We are even more delighted that Volkswagen now leads the American automotive industry with nine Top Safety Picks,” said Jonathan Browning, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. “This is the reward for all the hard work we continually put in the development of new technologies for our cars.”

The 2012 Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, and Volkswagen Routan all earned Top Safety Pick awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

These vehicles, which all share the same structure, earned high marks when it came to providing  protection in rollover crashes, garnering the highest rating of Good in front-, side-, rollover- and rear-crash protection. These three minivans join the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna as Top Safety Picks.

Two vehicles that didn’t make the grade were the Kia Sedona and Nissan Quest minivans. These vehicles didn’t fair very well when it came to the rollover category, but earned Good scores in all the other tests. Overall, the Sedona earned a Poor rollover rating while the Quest achieved an Acceptable score.

“Safety-conscious parents shopping for a family hauler should be pleased with today’s minivan choices,” said David Zuby, the Institute’s chief research officer. “At the same time, the ratings show that major differences remain in this segment when it comes to protection in a rollover crash.”

To determine rollover protection, the strength of a vehicle’s roof is measured by pushing a metal plate against the roof at a constant speed. To earn a Good rating, a vehicle has to be able to withstand up to four times its weight. The 2012 Town & Country had a strength-to-weight ratio of 4.51, while the Sedona had a rating of 2.31 and the Quest had a rating of 3.36.

[Source: IIHS]

A study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety revealed a significant drop in fatalities involving accidents between a car or a minivan versus an SUV of comparable weight.

By comparing two sample sets, one used to record the number of crashes involving SUVs registered in 2000-2001 and another to record SUVs from 2008-2009, IIHS discovered that fatalities have decreased from 44 deaths per million registered vehicles to a dramatically improved 16 deaths per million. Only SUVs and trucks weighing between 3,000 to 3,499 pounds were recognized for the study.

Specialists have concluded that the positive findings have the continuing innovations on safety to thank. Late model cars and minivans possess more effective crumple zones, stronger structures, as well as curtain airbags. Preemptive sensors such as lane departure and blind spot warnings also improve a driver’s odds of avoiding an accidentally completely.

Newer SUVs and pickups have also lowered their crumple structures to better align with cars, allowing optimal energy absorption before violent forces from the crash enter into the passenger cabin.

The 2011 Dodge Durango was awarded the Top Safety Pick from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The SUV earned the award based on receiving a score of ‘good’ in front, side, rollover and rear crash tests.

The Dodge Durango implements advances to offer 45 safety and security featuers aiding drivers in vulnerable situations as well as keeping drivers safe when accidents occur.

“The performance of the Durango means buyers are getting the best protection in the most common kinds of crashes, and electronic stability control for avoiding many crashes altogether,” IIHS President Adrian Lund said.

The Durango can now join the line of other Top Safety Pick winners including the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, Chrysler 200 sedan, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Journey and Jeep Patriot.

Check out the crash test after the jump!

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Another one joins the list! And this time around, it’s the Saab 9-4X, a new midsize luxury SUV, that’s taken its place on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Top Safety Pick award list.

To earn this top safety designation, the 9-4X had to earn a rating of good in the IIHS’s front, side, and rollover evaluations (this was based on good performances for its structural twin, the Cadillac SRX). A good rating was also secured for protection in rear-end crashes (a separate rear impact test was conducted for the seats/head restraints.

To earn a Top Safety Pick award, vehicles need to earn the highest ratings in all four Institute safety evaluations, as well as have electronic stability control.

Click here to read AutoGuide’s 2011 Saab 9-4X Review

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has confirmed what all of those Ford Explorer drivers thought all along: SUV drivers are least likely to die in a crash.

But all that mass is dangerous! What about all those rollovers? Well, with the advent of electronic stability control (already mandatory on U.S. cars) to prevent the sort of rollovers that plagued the Explorer all through the 90s, the SUV now has the least driver death rates among car types. Size does matter, it seems, and despite modern advances in safety, small cars are still perilously dangerous.

The death rate for SUVs is half that of cars, says the report. The number of SUV drivers killed fell 66 percent in between model generations, from 82 per million vehicles in 1999-2002 to 28/million in 2005-2008. ”The rollover risk in SUVs used to outweigh their size/weight advantage, but that’s no longer the case, thanks to ESC,” said Anne McCartt, the IIHS’s senior vice president for research.

Enthusiasts may decry stability control and SUVs in general, but it’s something we’ll have to admit: the two make for a pretty safe combination. And unlike Richard S. Foster’s prediction, we didn’t even have to sacrifice our MGBs. Hopefully.

[Source: Inside Line]

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.