2011 Top Safety Picks for Motor Vehicles

AOL Autos posted the results of The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) that issued its Top Safety Picks for 2011, with 66 vehicles making the grade.  According to autos.aol.com, “this year’s evaluations show that when it comes to vehicle safety features, a strong roof, one that offers exceptional protection in the event of a rollover accident, is more important than ever.”

Basically, the “Top Safety Pick” designation is given to vehicles that tested favorably in the category of protecting drivers and passengers in front, side, rollover, and rear crashes.  The IIHS’s rating grades are as follows: “good,” (the best possible choice) “acceptable,” “marginal” and “poor.”

However, this past year, the IIHS was said to have “toughened its standards, adding the requirement that all qualifiers must earn a ‘good’ rating in IIHS roof-strength tests that measure how much protection is offered in a rollover crash,” according to AOL.  This stricter standard– sharply narrowed the initial field of 2010 models even though “many carmakers have improved the roofs of their vehicles in the last year,” the website explains.

“We added the roof-strength requirement after our research confirmed the importance of roof strength when it comes to the seriousness of injuries to persons involved in rollover crashes,” said Russ Rader, IIHS vice president of communications via AOL. “Federal studies on fatality and injury data showed that vehicles with stronger roofs resulted in the occupants having a much lower rate of serious injuries.”

The story reports that Hyundai/Kia and Volkswagen/Audi led the pack (as each have nine models in the ’11 model-year winner’s circle). Tied for second, with eight winners each, are General Motors, Ford/Lincoln, and Toyota/Lexus/Scion.   Subaru is the only manufacturer that had a winner in all the vehicle classes in which it competed, with five models earning Top Safety Pick designations.

For the total list visit AOL Autos or Forbs 2011 Slideshow.  Finally, none of the small pickups the Institute has evaluated qualified for this year’s award, and large 2011-model-year pickup trucks have not yet been tested.