The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released its annual list of its safest vehicles and the list is significantly smaller than in years past. In 2009, the institute awarded 94 vehicles compared to only 27 vehicles in 2010. In order for vehicles to qualify they needed to achieve the highest possible score in the roof strength evaluation, something that was never required before. With the increased attention to roof strength the institute now covers the four most common types of crashes: front, side, rear and rollover.
While rollover accidents are the least common of the four they do result in the highest number of fatalities. A roof crush limits the amount of head room in vehicles and detrimentally impacts the way safety devices such as seat belts and airbags protect the occupants. The windows are also routinely broken during a roof crush which substantially increases occupant ejection from the vehicle resulting in higher degrees of injury.
Ford and its Volvo unit received the most top awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety with six and Subaru and Volkswagen received five awards. Chrysler had four vehicles awarded with Honda and General Motors receiving two awards. Toyota, Mazda and Mitsubishi vehicles did not achieve any awards. The Honda Accord and Ford Fusion, winners in 2009, were left off the list because they did not score high enough on the roof test.
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