Safest Cars List Almost Triples

Ford, Honda Have Most Vehicles On It; Electronic Stability Control A Key Requirement

(CBS/AP)  The number of new cars considered the safest by the insurance industry nearly tripled in the past year, helped by automakers' push to make certain safety equipment more widely available.

Ford Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. had the most vehicles on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's annual list of the safest cars for the 2008 model year.

Thirty-four vehicles received the top safety pick designation for 2008, compared with 13 vehicles from the 2007 model year.

The institute requires new cars and trucks to have electronic stability control, or ESC, to qualify for the award. Many auto companies are putting the anti-rollover technology into their fleets ahead of a government requirement for the systems by the 2012 model year.

"Vehicles should be designed to provide good occupant protection when crashes occur, but now with ESC we have the possibility of preventing many crashes altogether," said Adrian Lund, the institute's president.

Lund cited studies estimating that as many as 10,000 fatal crashes could be avoided annually if all vehicles had the technology.

"One of the things that are important about these results for people who are shopping for a new vehicle is that there's just a wide range of vehicles now," Lund told Early Show consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen. " ... They can buy something that's safe as well as doing what they need it to do as transportation."

"Basically," he added, "it's just that manufacturers are coming to grips with the idea that safety sells."

Ford was represented on the list by the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable passenger cars with optional ESC, and the Ford Edge, Ford Taurus X and Lincoln MKX midsize sport utility vehicles. The Volvo S80, C70 midsize convertible and XC90 SUV, part of Ford's Volvo unit, made the list.

Ford has said previously that it will put stability control on its entire lineup by the end of 2009.

Honda and its Acura unit had seven vehicles on the list: the Honda Accord, Odyssey, Pilot, CR-V and Element, and the Acura MDX and RDX SUVs. Honda has had stability control on all SUVs, pickups and minivans since the 2007 model year and the technology is now standard on the Accord.

Electronic stability control senses when a driver may lose control of the vehicle and automatically applies brakes to individual wheels to help keep it stable and avoid a rollover. The technology helps motorists avoid skidding across icy or slick roads or keep control of their car when swerving to avoid an unexpected object in the road.

Subaru and Hyundai Motor Co. both had four vehicles on the list: the Subaru Legacy and Impreza with optional ESC, Subaru Tribeca and Forester with ESC; the Hyundai Entourage, and the Hyundai Santa Fe and Veracruz built after August 2007. Kia, a subsidiary of Hyundai, had the Sedona minivan on the list.

Pickup trucks were eligible to win for the first time this year because the institute conducted side-impact tests on many models. The Toyota Tundra, which has standard stability control and side air bags, was the first pickup truck to receive the IIHS designation.

Toyota Motor Co. also had the Highlander SUV on the list, while Volkswagen AG's Audi subsidiary was represented by the A3, A4 and A6 passenger cars.

The institute said Toyota could have had 10 more vehicles on the list and Volkswagen could have added four if they had improved seat and head restraint designs, important in protecting against whiplash injuries in rear-end crashes.

Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong said its 2008 vehicles have active headrests, which move closer to the backs of a motorist's head in rear-end crashes. Kwong said it provides a "great level of safety for the customer in the real world." A message was left with a Volkswagen spokesman.

Other vehicles to make the list included: Saab 9-3, BMW X3 and X5, Mercedes M Class, and the Saturn Vue built after December 2007.

The institute said the awards help consumers compare vehicles without having to review results from multiple tests.

For complete details on the list, click here.

[cyberdjs4]

"The other day a person was in a crash, and their excuse was they were watching the map on their GPS.....they couldn''t figure out how to turn the volume up to hear the voice commands."--mitchoncbs
---------------------------------------------------
Remember, science fiction is prophetic.
We are slaves to technology in the 21st century.
We take it for granted and it rules us.

Modern cars are designed to protect us from ourselves.
We can''t back out of our driveways without having the phone to our ear.
We drive too fast in bad weather.
We maintain eye-to-eye contact with the passenger instead of the road.
We drive drunk or otherwise mentally impaired.
We don''t even know how to open the hood and check the oil and other vital fluids. Gas refills are the only PM we render to our cars.

What''s my point?
Cars are smarter than the driver is. Driver''s Ed is pointless.
Cars have to keep up with our rampant stupidity.
We''ve done this to ourselves and there is no turning back.

Congratulations. Pat yourself on the back.

[b-easy63]

Yep. ALL Fords should be the safest. They break down a lot. When a person can''t drive their car..they can''t ahve an accident in the car.

The other day a person was in a crash, and their excuse was they were watching the map on their GPS.....they couldn''t figure out how to turn the volume up to hear the voice commands.

My ''97 T-Bird is a safe car, because I am behind the wheel. Never wrecked it with the 136,000 miles I have put on it. Oh, you mean a car is safer because of how it ends up in a crash? Don''t crash and stay off the cell phone and PDA devices while driving.

[incog-nito]

flywchrist: The new Civic is one of the safest small cars on the road, according to Consumer Reports

[jetranger7]

I''d just like to have a Car,but we Americans can''t because were losing our jobs to outsourcing to foreign countries, and the Corporations are hiring non english speaking illegals to work and were losing our homes to Fraudulent and Corrupt Banks and financial instutions, so the CEOs can live in their Mansions and enjoy their 2nd and 3rd vacation homes, while enjoying their multi-million dollar salaries, mean while we Americans get to look at colorful magazine ads and dream of having just the hub caps of a car, Ohh Well maybe if we save enough pennies we find in the streets we can at least afford the magazine with the ad in it huh ??

[y124939]

Yes with the new technology it is nice and perfect idea to have all those safety gadgets. But...we are always forgetting one thing....that is the thing that sits on the driver seat and who controls the stearing, brake pedal, clutch, gears, and so on... If only we can replace that thing and make the road safe once again. The drivers who doesn''t care where they are going or whom they are going to hit has to be educated, disciplined, prison for life if necessary to correct him, and most important of all to teach them that driving is a priviledge and not a right. No matter what gadgets you put into the car and if the driver is a no care driver....we are just wasting valuable time, resources, intelligence. To correct the driving attitude, one has to see the stiff penaly....This is coming from a concerned citizen who is tired of seeing dead and hurt people. Let''s face it life is precious only if we value them.... one may disagree to this but we all agree to live longer....

[flywchrist]

Will the Honda Civic get more technology added to it. Is it a good car to purchase and drive.

[itachifan1]

UMMM WHO ARE YOU TALKIN TO? I DON''T KNOW ANYTHIN ABOUT HONDAS BUT MI TIA NANNIE BELL HAS A BLACK HONDA CIVIC I THINK

[flywchrist]

I heard that the Honda Civic has good ratings on it. Is that true and why?

[itachifan1]

WHAT TAKE U SO LONG TO WRITE BACK I AINT TALKIN TO MYSELF YA KNOW

[itachifan1]

I LIKE THOSE NEW SMALL BMW''S BUT MI MADRE SAID THAT WAS TOO EXPENSIVE TOO

[itachifan1]

MY MOMMA DONT LIKE HONDAS AND I DONT LIKE HONDAS EITHER WHAT KIND OF CAR DO U LIKE THE BEST

[itachifan1]

YEAH THE NAME FOR ONE DUH AND I BET IT HAS OTHER DIFFERECES TOO

[itachifan1]

I WANT A CORVETTE BUT MI MADRE SAID IT BE TOO EXPENSIVE

[flywchrist]

Is there much difference between the Honda Accord and the Honda Civic?

[itachifan1]

HEY!!! U COPY CAT! I WROTE THAT FIRST!

[flywchrist]

What about the Honda Civic?

[itachifan1]

WHAT ABOUT THE HONDA CIVIC

[itachifan1]

I DON''T EVEN KNOW WHAT THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT AND I''M TYPIN'' STUFF!!