Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Issues Top Safety Picks for 2007 Vehicles

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issued a list of vehicles qualifying as Top Safety Picks following extensive testing at the Institute testing facility. The Institute rates vehicles based on “performance in high-speed front and side crash tests plus evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts.”

In order to qualify as a Top Safety Pick, each vehicle must earn at least “good” ratings in all three of the above-mentioned tests. In addition, for the first time this year, in order to qualify as a Top Pick, the Institute requires the winning vehicles to have electronic stability control. “This addition is based on Institute research indicating that ESC significantly reduces crash risk, especially the risk of fatal single vehicle crashes, by helping drivers maintain control of their vehicles during emergency maneuvers.”

This is a great step forward in improving SUV safety on the roads, particularly when many accidents are caused when drivers are required to make unusual and unexpected maneuvers while driving. Electronic Stability Control may have prevented an extraordinarily tragic accident last night of five recent high school graduates being killed in a fiery crash in upstate New York after what a local sheriff opined on the possible cause of the crash, saying, “The driver of the SUV may have overcorrected after going too far to the right.”

How many tragedies must occur before all vehicles have this technology?