Crash Test Information and Results for 2007

Crash Test Information and Results for 2007

One of the best ways to avoid being the victim of an accident is to be an attentive driver and practice safe driving skills. However, even the safest drivers sometimes find themselves in an unavoidable situation. Having the knowledge that the car you have purchased is safe, as determined by organizations that conduct crash tests and exist specifically to evaluate the safety of new vehicles as they are introduced to the public, can provide priceless peace of mind and potentially save a life or prevent serious injury. Researching the safety ratings of a vehicle before you purchase it is well worth the investment of your time considering that approximately 40,000 people are involved in fatal accidents on American roadways each year.


There are two organizations that conduct crash tests that determine the safety ratings of vehicles in the United States-The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is part of the Executive branch of the United State's Department of Transportation. Data files maintained by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis represent one of the NHTSA's greatest achievments. Their role in the maintenance and publication of information regarding vehicle safety beneifts both consumers and the automobile industry. The NHTSA uses a 5 star rating system, with 5 stars being the safest, in order to evaluate the safety level of vehicles as indicated by crash tests evaluating Frontal Impact, Side Impact, Rear Impact and Rollover type car accidents.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a non-profit organization funded by automobile insurers. The primary purpose of this organization is to work towards reducing the amount of motor vehicle accidents, injury rates resulting from an automobile accident and the amount of property damage that occurs due to car crashes. They, too, conduct crash tests associated with Frontal Impact, Side Impact, Rear Impact and Rollover accidents. The rating system produced and published by the IIHS is presented as Good, Acceptable, Marginal and Poor. Automobiles that have a Good rating in all four categories of crash tests conducted by the IIHS are generally considered to be among the safest cars in America.

In addition to their different rating systems, the NHTSA and the IIHS use different methods to conduct their crash tests. The difference in the crash test results as determined by the NHTSA and the results for the same model vehicle tested by IIHS are can be substantial, and both should be taken into consideration if your goal is to purchase the safest vehicle you can afford and that meets your automotive needs.

Informed for Life is a non-profit organization that was created solely for the purpose of informing consumers of their options regarding the safety of the vehicles they purchase and uses an average vehicle configuration to combine the crash test results of both the NHTSA and IIHS. The rating system used by Informed for Life is represented as a Statistical Combination of Risk Elements, or SCORE. Vehicles with a SCORE of less than 70 are considered among the safest cars in America, vehicles with a SCORE above 100 indicate an above average risk, and the vehicles with a SCORE in between 70 and 100 being considered of medium risk.


Informed for Life has indicated the safest vehicles for the 2007 model year, as well as the worst and everything in between. Surprisingly, the top five spots belong to Acura, Hyundai and Kia. The Acura RL, a 4 door passenger car tops the list with a SCORE of 46, followed by the Hyundai Entourage VAN, Kia Sedona LWB Van and Kia Sedona SWB Van, all coming in with a SCORE of 50. With a SCORE of 53, the Acura MDS 4 door SUV comes in as the fifth safest vehicle for 2007. Not so surprisingly, the five vehicles with the worst ratings according to the data gathered by Informed for Life are either pickup trucks or SUV's. The Mazda B-Series 2-DR 4WD pickup truck received a SCORE of 148; the Ford Ranger Extended Cab Pickup received a SCORE of 149; the Mazda B-Series Extended Cab 4WD Pickup received a SCORE of 149; the Buick Rendezvous 4 DR SUV received a SCORE of 155 and the Ford Escape Hybrid 4DR SUV received a SCORE of 160.

Automotive consumers have a far greater amount of information available to them due to the efforts of the NHTSA, the IIHS and Informed for Life. If you would like more information regarding the safety of your current vehicle or would like to investigate the safety ratings of particular vehicle before you buy, you can find this information readily available to you at the websites of the NHTSA, http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ ; the IIHS, http://www.iihs.org/ and Informed for Life at http://www.informedforlife.org