High-End Sedans Perform Poorly On New Crash Test

August 14, 2012
With more than 10,000 fatalities per year attributed to front-end motor vehicle accidents, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is working to improve testing to make vehicles safer. The need for these tests was recently highlighted by a story from KSDK News that showed many vehicles were failing new benchmark examinations presented to car manufacturers by the IIHS.
The new test looks at what is called a “small overlap crash.” This is when only one quarter of the front-end, either on the driver or passenger side, hits an object. The “small overlap” collision accounts for nearly one-quarter of all front-end car accidents that end with an injury or fatality.
While many car manufacturers have designed their vehicles to perform well on previous crash tests, the small overlap crash test presented a challenge with only two of the eleven luxury vehicles tested performing at a “good” standard.
The Acura TL and Volvo S60 performed to the highest rating, while the Infiniti G received a mark of “acceptable.”
The vehicles that performed the worst were the Lexus IS and the Volkswagen CC, which experienced the worst damage in IIHS testing history when the driver’s side door of the vehicle was taken off in the crash.
The St. Louis personal injury lawyers with Cofman Townsley understand the dangers of St. Louis car accidents and hope that the standards adopted by the IIHS will improve vehicle safety for all drivers.