Simply put -- all cars with five stars do not provide the same level of protection. All five-star vehicles are not on the same safety level.
NHTSA ranks a vehicle against the other vehicles in the same weight category and awards rankings of one-to-five stars depending upon how they do in relation to each other. Because mass is extremely important in a crash, it follows that a vehicle with five stars will not be as safe in a crash with a larger vehicle with five stars, or four stars or three star or maybe even one star.
For more details on this and the various weight classes that NHTSA uses, go to the agency's website at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/. You can then check to see where each specific vehicle fits and assume that -- generally speaking -- all vehicles from bigger weight categories will be safer.
Not making this clear in its annual auto issue seems surprisingly careless on the part of a publication which prides itself on its thoroughness.
Finally, CR completely ignores the extremely important safety aspects of crash-notification, which acts automatically to call for help if no one in the vehicle is capable of doing that, and uses GPS to send emergency services to the vehicle's precise location. GM is the only company that makes this safety technology available through its OnStar service, and it is gaining in popularity and value all the time.
NHTSA ranks a vehicle against the other vehicles in the same weight category and awards rankings of one-to-five stars depending upon how they do in relation to each other. Because mass is extremely important in a crash, it follows that a vehicle with five stars will not be as safe in a crash with a larger vehicle with five stars, or four stars or three star or maybe even one star.
For more details on this and the various weight classes that NHTSA uses, go to the agency's website at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/. You can then check to see where each specific vehicle fits and assume that -- generally speaking -- all vehicles from bigger weight categories will be safer.
Not making this clear in its annual auto issue seems surprisingly careless on the part of a publication which prides itself on its thoroughness.
Finally, CR completely ignores the extremely important safety aspects of crash-notification, which acts automatically to call for help if no one in the vehicle is capable of doing that, and uses GPS to send emergency services to the vehicle's precise location. GM is the only company that makes this safety technology available through its OnStar service, and it is gaining in popularity and value all the time.