Occupant protection in side impacts of midsize cars is improving as automakers introduce safer designs and add side airbags as standard equipment. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently completed front, side, and rear tests of seven 2008 model midsize cars, both moderately priced and luxury: Chevrolet Malibu, Dodge Avenger, Infiniti G35, Kia Optima, Mitsubishi Galant, Nissan Altima, and Saturn Aura. All earn the highest rating of good for occupant protection in frontal crashes. All but the Kia Optima earn the top rating of good for side crash protection (Malibu's rating applies to cars built after February 2008). Rear crash protection results vary more widely. Among the seats/head restraints evaluated, only those in the Optima earn a good rating."The side impact results represent a huge change from just four years ago," says Institute senior vice president David Zuby. "In 2004 we tested 10 midsize moderately priced cars, and all 10 were rated poor in their standard configurations without side airbags." In the 2004 tests, only the previous generations of the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and Chevrolet Malibu earned good ratings when tested with side airbags, which then were optional equipment.
"Side airbags were mostly optional in our first round of side impact tests of midsize cars," Zuby says. "A major change is that side airbags are standard in every one of the seven midsize cars we tested this time around. Auto manufacturers have been moving quickly to make side airbags standard, even on lower priced models."
Read the rest here at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
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