Buick LaCrosse, Chevy Malibu Named Top Safety Picks
Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by webmestre in North America, Uncategorized
Buick LaCrosse, Chevy Malibu Named Top Safety Picks
Both Achieve All ‘Good’ Marks from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
o Addition of Roof Strength Component Trims Qualifying Vehicles by 71 Percent
o Front, Side, Rear Crash Tests and StabiliTrak Combine to Earn Status
DETROIT – The all-new Buick LaCrosse and the Chevrolet Malibu received Top Safety Pick honors Wednesday from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
“Institute tests represent the four most common kinds of crashes,” said IIHS president Adrian Lund. “Getting through these tough tests and earning the Institute’s highest award means the Malibu and LaCrosse are in the top tier for safety.”
The Top Safety Pick for LaCrosse and Malibu are significant because their principal competitors from Lexus, Acura, Toyota and Honda respectively were dropped from the list, which for the first time required a “good” rating in a roof strength test. This test is a measure to help determine protection in rollover crashes, which are responsible for 9,000 highway deaths a year.
“Customers continue to tell us that safety is a top consideration in a new vehicle purchase and we are listening,” said GM Vice President of U.S. Sales Susan Docherty.
In the roof strength test, a metal plate is pushed against one side of a roof at a constant speed. To earn a good rating for rollover protection, the roof must withstand a force of four times the vehicle’s weight before reaching five inches of crush. This is called a strength-to-weight ratio.
“This recognition is important because customers are increasingly placing trust in credible third-party reports,” Docherty said. “That’s why the roof strength of the 2010 LaCrosse and Malibu were important to get right. We think this is one more reason for consumers to consider these cars.”
Achieving a “good” rating in front and side crash tests and rear impact as well as electronic stability control were the other criteria used to select the 27 vehicles that received Top Safety Pick for 2010 compared with 94 in 2009. The Institute told automakers in January that it was adding the rollover test.
Frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of 40 mph frontal offset crash tests. Each vehicle’s overall evaluation is based on measurements of intrusion into the occupant compartment, injury measures recorded on a dummy in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.
Side evaluations are based on performance in a crash test in which the side of a vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 31 mph. The barrier represents the front end of a pickup or SUV. Ratings are based on injury measures recorded on two instrumented dummies, an assessment of head protection and the vehicle’s structural performance during the impact.
Rear crash protection is rated according to a two-step procedure: The height of a restraint and its horizontal distance behind the back of the head of an average-size man. Seat/head restraints with good or acceptable geometry are tested for forces on the neck in a simulated collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 mph. Malibus built after October 2009 received a “good” rating in rear crash protection, allowing the Top Safety Pick designation.
Source GM
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