Cadillac CTS and Infiniti M37/M56 Earn IIHS Top Safety Pick Award
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]
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