Post by Kasey Kagawa
Those lucky bastards with the coolest jobs on the planet at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have released their new list of Top Safety Picks for 2007. The winners are as follows:
Large car
Audi A6 (manufactured in Dec. 2006 and later)
Midsize cars
Audi A4
Saab 9-3
Subaru Legacy (equipped with optional electronic stability control)
Minivans
Hyundai Entourage
Kia Sedona
Luxury SUVs
Mercedes M class
Volvo XC90
Midsize SUVs
Acura RDX
Honda Pilot
Subaru B9 Tribeca
Small SUVs
Honda CR-V
Subaru Forester (equipped with optional electronic stability control)
This year, they’ve tightened up the requirements for front, side and rear impacts and added a new prerequisite: electronic stability control. I think that the addition of ESC as a requirement for a car to be recommended as highly safe is a good idea, as the best way to survive a crash is not to be in one at all, something that ESC definitely helps out with. I’m just hoping we avoid those silly EuroNCAP pedestrian safety ratings. If you get hit by a car at 25 MPH, it’s not so much an issue of “Will I get hurt?”, but “How many limbs will I break?”
I’m generally in favor of safety in cars, it’s what keeps the various bits of my body attached when I run out of talent and luck when I’m driving. Essentials like Seat Belt Repair and Air Bag testing should be done regularly, and they do promote the safety of the driver as well as passengers to an extent. I do think, however, that we’re far too obsessed with safety and reliability in this country right now. Fuel efficiency is getting there, but the cost of gas is enough to make that a justifiable excuse for buying a slow and boring car. Safety and reliability aren’t.
So many people these days that are looking at buying a car, and are dead set on it being in the top rung of the Consumer Reports reliability ratings, even though they could do miles better if they just loosened up even a little. The problem with the public perception of Consumer Reports’ relative ranking system is that car reliability is so high across the board these days that the only thing separating a top-rated car and one with the Little Black Circle of Death on Consumer Reports is a few serious problems per hundred cars produced. So now, when you choose between a car that’s got the top rating but has sluggish acceleration, boring styling, mediocre ride comfort and no handling, and one that’s a rung down the ladder that’s actually fun to look at and drive, all you wind up with is a car that’s 5% or so less likely to break over a year’s time, and meanwhile, you’re pottering along with a car that’s about as fun reading Pride and Prejudice. In Latin.
2007 TOP SAFETY PICK award winners: award criteria are tougher; SUVs eligible for first time [IIHS.org]
