#CrashTest

With a heavy heart the staff of AutoGuide.com say goodbye to 2012, along with its triumphs and tragedies. We await the New Year with open arms, and welcome its promise of a better world.

The 2013 Ford Fusion was just awarded the new “Top Safety Pick Plus” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Results from a new test being conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) could prompt automakers to modify their cars by making them heavier, more expensive and less fuel efficient. 

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.

The slow-selling Fiat 500 hit another snag after NHTSA gave the compact car a three-star crash test rating, a dismal score in an era where five-star ratings are practically ubiquitous.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is flatly denying any wrongdoing around the time it took to release data suggesting the Chevrolet Volt might catch fire.

A fire involving a Chevrolet Volt that had undergone government crash testing has led to authorities investigating the possibility of requiring emergency responders to drain the batteries of electric and hybrid vehicles following a collision.

If you’re looking for a good reason not to speed, this is it. Thanks to the inquisitive minds at Fifth Gear we now know the absolutely devastating result of what a 120-mph crash would look like.

Part of an ongoing series looking at crash tests and the safety of modern vehicles the team of eloquently-voiced Brits decided to see what would happen if a Ford Focus crashed into a concrete block at 120-mph – triple the speed of modern crash test procedures. The results are both shocking and terrifying.

Watch the video after the jump:

Surprisingly, large segments of Americans are willing to buy Chinese made cars. Market research company GfK Automotive did its annual Barometer of Automotive Awareness and Imagery, and found that 38 percent of the respondents would consider buying a Chinese car. According to the study, “The openness to purchasing a Chinese and Indian vehicle is highest among Gen Y consumers, with 52 percent saying they are open to a vehicle from a Chinese automaker and 41 percent saying they are open to a vehicle from an Indian automaker.”

The Nissan Leaf became the first EV to get a five star crash test rating from the Euro NCAP program, after scoring well in all categories involving passenger safety, on-board safety systems and pedestrian safety.

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.

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

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]

Looks like Toyota might not be the only company having problems with “unintended acceleration.” At a recent demonstration of Volvo’s collision avoidance system, the Swedish automaker shot a Volvo S60 out of a specialized tunnel and aimed it directly at the back of a dump truck. Ostensibly, the collision avoidance system was supposed to bring the car to a stop without human intervention, but things didn’t work out as planned, with the car slamming into the truck in front of an assembled crowd of journalists.

Where you one of those kids who would smash your toy cars together? If so, I bet your dream job lies in Sweden in Volvo’s crash test laboratory. More than 3,000 full-scale crashes have taken place, making this the most used and (still) most advanced crash research centre on the planet.

“We can replicate most of the accident scenarios that take place out on the roads. By analysing the results and then testing new safety technology, we can improve the safety level in our cars so that they become even safer in real-life traffic conditions,” said Thomas Broberg, senior safety advisor at Volvo Cars.

How advanced is this place? Well, they’ve just installed new cameras…that can take video at 200,000 frames per second.

“The degree of precision in a test in which two moving cars collide at 31 mph is 2.5 centimetres. This corresponds to two thousandths of a second. By way of comparison, a blink of the human eye takes about 60 thousandths of a second. This says a whole lot about the laboratory’s precision,” says Broberg.

Click through for some incredible facts about the safety center.