10 new models earn IIHS Top Safety Pick award, 66 models for 2011

A total of 66 vehicles have earned the 2011 Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) including 40 cars, 25 SUVs, and one minivan. The ten newest vehicles on the list include the Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Explorer, Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Optima, Mercedes-Benz E-Class coupe, Mercedes-Benz GLK, Scion tC, Volkswagen GTI, Volkswagen Jetta sedan, and Volkswagen Touareg. Earning the Top Safety Pick designation means a car has performed well in all of the Institute's tests, including a front, side, and rear crash tests, and its new roof-crush test. Also, the vehicles must have electronic stability control available (ESC will be standard for the 2012 model year). IIHS rates cars in all these tests on a scale of Good, Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor. All vehicles that earn the Top Safety Pick award need to score a Good in all these tests. Last year, the Institute added the roof strength test, which cut down the list of 2010 winners. Since then, many automakers have tweaked existing designs and engineered new models to excel in this test. Overall, Hyundai/Kia and Volkswagen/Audi each have nine winners for 2011. General Motors, Ford/Lincoln, and Toyota/Lexus/Scion have eight awards each. Subaru is the only automaker that earns the award for all (five) vehicles in its lineup. Injuries and deaths from motor vehicle crashes are a serious problem. In 2009, over 12,000 people died in front crashes, more than 6,000 died in side impacts, and over 8,000 died in rollovers. While rear-end crashes typically aren?t fatal, they result in a large portion of injuries and insurance claims. The Insurance Institute?s crash test evaluations are an important tool to help consumers choose a safe vehicle that can help reduce the risk of death from vehicle crashes. For a full list of the 2011 winners and to see a list of past winners dating back to 2006, the first year of the Top Safety Pick Awards, see the IIHS website. View more than 300 crash tests performed by the IIHS in our crash test video player. To aid with vehicle research, you?ll also find crash tests within our model overview pages, within the Photos/Videos tab. ?Liza Barth Related: Car safety Latest NHTSA 5-Star crash results: Honda Civic only gets two stars NHTSA crash tests pickup trucks under the new, more rigorous ratings system NHTSA releases second batch of vehicle ratings under new system NHTSA unveils vehicle ratings under updated star safety system

Source: http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2010/12/10-new-models-earn-iihs-top-safety-pick-award-66-models-for-2011.html

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