This week, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced their choice of 13 vehicles, out of over 300 on the market, that are the safest you can buy.
Large car: Audi A6
Mid-size cars: Audi A4, Saab 9-3 and Subaru Legacy
Minivans: Hyundai Entourage and Kia Sedona
Luxury SUVs: Mercedes-Benz M-Class and Volvo XC90
Mid-size SUVs: Acura RDX, Honda Pilot and Subaru B9 Tribeca
Small SUVs: Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester
Great, but before we jump to conclusions, let's check out how they narrowed the field. And a fine example of jumping to conclusions is the media's reaction as to why there aren't any North-American manufacturers on the list.
Ironically, the car among the IIHS winners with the oldest design is actually built by GM. The Saab 9-3 has been around in its current form since 2003, and has been an IIHS top pick for three years now.
You'll also quickly notice that there aren't any small cars in the list. That's because the IIHS this year decided to eliminate any vehicle that doesn't offer electronic stability control, or ESC. You see, the Insurance Institute figures that this safety feature reduces the risk of accidents, and every vehicle should roll off the assembly line with it.
Because of this decision, the Ford Five Hundred, the Chevrolet Malibu and the Honda Civic, all Top Picks in 2006, dropped off the list this year. Cars deemed safe last year are suddenly unsafe? What gives?
Crash tests are good, and the IIHS does that job commendably. But brushing off cars and trucks because they don't have stability control systems is unfair.
I can understand the importance of airbags, since they protect a vehicle's occupants in the event of a collision. But electronic stability control is just another device that covers for driver incompetence, and that's not good. That means bad drivers can keep their driving habits. What's next? Cars that drive by themselves? I hope we don't see the day THAT happens...
Under pressure, many carmarkers have announced that in a few years, all their vehicles will be equipped with stability control. As a result, consumers might have to pay even more for their cars and trucks. And to keep costs down, these devices might very well become too simple and too cheap to be really effective. We drive new vehicles every week, and not every stability control system works the same. Some are well-adapted to the vehicle it's bolted onto, some are not at all. And a few years down the road, when these vehicles will sit on used-car lots, will these devices still function properly? How much do you think it will cost to replace or fix
them? Cars and trucks are just getting more complex and more expensive to maintain.
The IIHS also crowned vehicles which only offer ESC on their most expensive trim levels. The 2007 Subaru Legacy starts at $26,995, but their stability control system (called VDC) can only be had on the Legacy 2.5GT Spec.B model, which costs $44,995. The least-expensive vehicle in the Top Picks for 2007 is the Honda CR-V, which costs $27,700.
Large car: Audi A6
Mid-size cars: Audi A4, Saab 9-3 and Subaru Legacy
Minivans: Hyundai Entourage and Kia Sedona
Luxury SUVs: Mercedes-Benz M-Class and Volvo XC90
Mid-size SUVs: Acura RDX, Honda Pilot and Subaru B9 Tribeca
Small SUVs: Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester
Great, but before we jump to conclusions, let's check out how they narrowed the field. And a fine example of jumping to conclusions is the media's reaction as to why there aren't any North-American manufacturers on the list.
 |
| Saab 9-3 SportCombi (Photo: Olivier Delome, Auto123.com) |
You'll also quickly notice that there aren't any small cars in the list. That's because the IIHS this year decided to eliminate any vehicle that doesn't offer electronic stability control, or ESC. You see, the Insurance Institute figures that this safety feature reduces the risk of accidents, and every vehicle should roll off the assembly line with it.
Because of this decision, the Ford Five Hundred, the Chevrolet Malibu and the Honda Civic, all Top Picks in 2006, dropped off the list this year. Cars deemed safe last year are suddenly unsafe? What gives?
Crash tests are good, and the IIHS does that job commendably. But brushing off cars and trucks because they don't have stability control systems is unfair.
I can understand the importance of airbags, since they protect a vehicle's occupants in the event of a collision. But electronic stability control is just another device that covers for driver incompetence, and that's not good. That means bad drivers can keep their driving habits. What's next? Cars that drive by themselves? I hope we don't see the day THAT happens...
Under pressure, many carmarkers have announced that in a few years, all their vehicles will be equipped with stability control. As a result, consumers might have to pay even more for their cars and trucks. And to keep costs down, these devices might very well become too simple and too cheap to be really effective. We drive new vehicles every week, and not every stability control system works the same. Some are well-adapted to the vehicle it's bolted onto, some are not at all. And a few years down the road, when these vehicles will sit on used-car lots, will these devices still function properly? How much do you think it will cost to replace or fix
 |
| Subaru Legacy 2.5GT Spec.B (Photo: Philippe Champoux, Auto123.com) |
The IIHS also crowned vehicles which only offer ESC on their most expensive trim levels. The 2007 Subaru Legacy starts at $26,995, but their stability control system (called VDC) can only be had on the Legacy 2.5GT Spec.B model, which costs $44,995. The least-expensive vehicle in the Top Picks for 2007 is the Honda CR-V, which costs $27,700.