Study: Ford leads in top safety picks

[AVANTI R5]

Ford Motor Co. leads all automakers with 16 "top safety picks" among 2009 cars and trucks, a new study says.

Overall, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave its top safety designation to 72 new-vehicle models -- twice the 2008 number and three times the figure for 2007. The institute works for auto insurers.

Among the factors accounting for the increase: greater use by automakers of seats and head restraints that meet the institute's safety criteria, wider availability of electronic stability control and expanded installation of side airbags that offer head protection in collisions.

"The sheer number of this year's winners indicates that automakers have made huge strides to improve crash protection," said Adrian Lund, the institute's president.

Ford Motor's safety winners, which included its Volvo brand, were headed by the redesigned Ford F-150 pickup.

American Honda Motor Co.'s Honda and Acura brands finished second to Ford Motor with 13 top safety picks, the institute said. The Honda Fit was the first economy car to get the top designation.

Chrysler LLC was the only major automaker without a top pick, according to the institute. Five Chrysler models would have qualified if they had better seats and head restraints, the institute said.

To earn the label of top safety pick, a vehicle must provide good protection for crash dummies in frontal- and side-impact crash tests. It must have seats and head restraints favored by the institute to protect occupants in rear-impact crashes and must have electronic stability control.

Front and side impacts are the most serious crashes, but rear-end collisions cause the most injury claims to insurers, the institute said.

Electronic stability control is standard for 2009 in 74 percent of cars, 99 percent of SUVs and 37 percent of pickups, the institute noted. The technology helps keep vehicles out of crashes, especially off-the-road rollovers.

The complete list of 72 top safety picks is available at www.iihs.org.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20081126/FREE/811269997

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[Hites]

further proof that ford is the company to invest in right now.

[Chromer]

Yah, they've really come a long way since this:



That generation F150 killed more people than ANY mandated increase in fuel economy did...

So "Good Job" on grabbing the top spot. Let's hope they don't get complacent again.

[EtoS]

Originally Posted by Chromer

Yah, they've really come a long way since this:



That generation F150 killed more people than ANY mandated increase in fuel economy did...

So "Good Job" on grabbing the top spot. Let's hope they don't get complacent again.

Jeez, that's actually scary.