American car buyers have been shifting away from larger vehicles, fearing higher gas prices, but they could be leaving themselves vulnerable in a crash, claims the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
You don't have to look too far into the past to find a time when automakers didn't see car safety as a "selling point." But over the last 30 years, car safety has become a prime factor in the minds of car buyers.
Four small sport utility vehicles received top scores in crash tests to be released Wednesday by the insurance industry, a sign of improvement compared with SUVs built earlier in the decade
The latest crash tests by the insurance industry raise safety questions about small pickups
The ultra-tiny Smart ForTwo earned top marks in side and front crash tests, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said Wednesday. The two-seat car did not earn the Institute's Top Safety Pick designation, however, because it didn't earn top marks for whiplash protection.
If you don't eat, sleep and breathe cars, or devour car magazines in minute detail, there's a good chance you don't know all the technological terms that pop up in the media, new car advertising and literature.
The tiny Smart ForTwo, recently introduced in the U.S. car market, gave a less-than-stellar performance in its first crash test by the federal government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Midsize SUVs are becoming safer, but side and rear impact crashes remain a weakness, according to recent testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
General Motors said it will recall 181,516 Chevrolet HHR wagons Wednesday after finding that some of the vehicles don't meet government standards for protecting occupants from head injury in a crash.
Car makers are confident they can meet new government rules calling for a national fleet average of 35 miles per gallon. But it will take a big technological push, they say.
American car buyers have been shifting away from larger vehicles, fearing higher gas prices, but they could be leaving themselves vulnerable in a crash, claims the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
You don't have to look too far into the past to find a time when automakers didn't see car safety as a "selling point." But over the last 30 years, car safety has become a prime factor in the minds of car buyers.
Four small sport utility vehicles received top scores in crash tests to be released Wednesday by the insurance industry, a sign of improvement compared with SUVs built earlier in the decade
The latest crash tests by the insurance industry raise safety questions about small pickups
The ultra-tiny Smart ForTwo earned top marks in side and front crash tests, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said Wednesday. The two-seat car did not earn the Institute's Top Safety Pick designation, however, because it didn't earn top marks for whiplash protection.
If you don't eat, sleep and breathe cars, or devour car magazines in minute detail, there's a good chance you don't know all the technological terms that pop up in the media, new car advertising and literature.
The tiny Smart ForTwo, recently introduced in the U.S. car market, gave a less-than-stellar performance in its first crash test by the federal government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Midsize SUVs are becoming safer, but side and rear impact crashes remain a weakness, according to recent testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
General Motors said it will recall 181,516 Chevrolet HHR wagons Wednesday after finding that some of the vehicles don't meet government standards for protecting occupants from head injury in a crash.
Car makers are confident they can meet new government rules calling for a national fleet average of 35 miles per gallon. But it will take a big technological push, they say.
The number of new cars considered the safest by the insurance industry nearly tripled in the past year
Some car companies just can't leave well enough alone. After all, if you have the best-selling car eight of the past nine years, have projections to sell 420,000 more next year and your new model has won just about every automotive award available, except the Indy 500 Milk Bottle, why would you place the engineering equivalent of a graffiti mustache on it?
Every year, millions of dollars' worth of vehicles end up as masses of tangled sheet metal and twisted parts in crash tests across the country. Those tests have saved millions of lives since they began six decades ago.
While all offer reasonable protection from front impacts, there are big differences in side impact protection among six truck-based SUVs, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The 2008 Ford Mustang is the first convertible to ever earn five-star ratings in all crash tests performed by the federal government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ford announced Thursday.
Toyota Motor Corp. says it will recall floor mats in its 2007 Lexus ES 350 and the 2007 Camry models that, if not secured in place, could slip and get trapped under or over the accelerator. This could cause a car to accelerate even after the driver lifted his or her foot off the gas pedal.
New passenger vehicles will be required to provide head protection in side crashes for 2013 model-year vehicles, the government said Wednesday.
Luxury doesn't always buy complete car safety, according to a new report.
Recent recalls of toothpaste, toys, tires and other products have created a marketing nightmare for any company trying to sell Chinese products in the United States. And now they want to sell cars here.
Two-thirds of pickups, vans and sport-utility vehicles don't provide acceptable protection against whiplash in rear-end collisions, according to tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
It used to be horsepower. Then it was fuel economy. Now there's another number making its way into the big print in car ads: the number of airbags.
By now, you're pretty savvy when it comes to buying a new car. You know all about dealer-invoice pricing, depreciation and extended warranties. There's still one last chance, though, for the dealer to get the better of you. A new model's options list can be a minefield, and if you're not careful you could end up spending 20% or more above what you intended for your car. So it pays to know whether an option is good for you or just for the dealer.
The company that imported Chinese tires at the center of a recall demand by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will recall the tires and replace them until the company, Foreign Tire Sales (FTS), has run out of funds.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has added the Hyundai Santa Fe, a midsized SUV, to its list vehicles that earned the group's Top Safety Pick award.
New statistics released Thursday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show that, overall, driving has gotten much safer in the last 11 years.
Seat and head restraints in more than 60 percent of car models fall short of state-of-the-art protection for neck injuries and whiplash, a new study has found.
Following a botched infant car seat crash test that forced the withdrawal of the test results and a public apology, Consumer Reports announced it is changing some internal procedures and policies.
Ford's new Edge crossover SUV earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's "Top safety pick" award, getting top scores for front, side and rear impact safety.
Consumer Reports, the consumer product testing magazine, announced Thursday that is withdrawing a recent report on rear-facing infant car seats after learning of a problem in the way some of the tests were conducted.
Most rear-facing infant car-seats on the market failed crash tests using tougher standards than the government uses, Consumer Reports said Thursday.
The Nissan Versa got top marks in crash test results released Tuesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, though bigger cars still offer greater safety than small cars, the Institute said.
After some changes to make the requirements more stringent, no U.S. models earned The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Top Safety Pick Award.
Side-impact airbags, particularly those that protect occupants' heads, have a major live-saving effect, according to research released Thursday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a proposed rule Thursday that will require Electronic Stability Control on all passenger vehicles in the United States.
Everyone's familiar with the idea of "black boxes" in commercial airliners. They keep a record of everything the aircraft does so that, in the event of an accident, investigators can reconstruct what happened in the minutes leading up to the crash.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has passed a regulation requiring car makers to inform customers when their car has been equipped with an Event Data Recorder, the agency said Monday.
The redesigned 2007 Toyota Camry earned the top score of "Good" in side and front crash tests performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway safety.
I regularly get expensive cars to test drive, and I've parked plenty costing $100,000 and more in the garage near CNNMoney.com's office. Attendants there usually have no problem putting them with - you know - the other cars.
This fall, Toyota will voluntarily recall nearly 160,000 Toyota Tundra pickups so that they can be made less safe for children riding in the front seat.
With better crash safety engineered into passenger vehicles and front airbags now required equipment, side impacts account for more driver deaths than frontal impacts in newer cars, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Buying a car for a teen driver can be expensive in a number of ways. Obviously, the car itself costs real money. Then there are insurance costs and the eventual repair and maintenance costs.
Below is a list of the trademarked names used by various car brands for their Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems.
A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicates that crash deaths on American roads could be reduced by one third if all vehicles were equipped with the Electronic Stability Control.
When the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety first started performing its own front crash tests in the mid-1990s, about half the vehicles scored "Marginal" or "Poor."
Name a car, and there's at least one award that its maker can brag about winning from the Automotive Award-Giving Institute, or some such entity. Even respected vehicle-rating firms collectively be...
The safest minivan isn't made by Honda, Toyota or Chrysler, according to recently completed tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Korean-made Kia Sedona earned the Institute's "Gold Top Safety Pick" award, getting top marks for front crash, side crash and whiplash protection.
The Ford Fusion midsized sedan, introduced last fall, earned an "Acceptable" rating in front crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. While that is the second-best possible rating, only one other midsize car design currently on the market failed to get the top "Good" rating in the IIHS front-offset crash test.
More than any CD changer, more than any heated or ventilated seat, the most sought-after option in a car these days is a full complement of safety features.
MONEY's car tests don't involve stopwatches. Instead, trunks are loaded up, kids shuttled, vehicles parallel-parked--in other words, what you do with your car in the real world. Value is the other ...
The Chicago Auto Show is usually not one of the bigger automotive events of the year, at least in terms of media attention. The fact that it comes fairly close on the heels of the Detroit Auto Show, the grand-daddy of them all, probably doesn't help. This year's show, however, included quite a few notable cars.
Automakers are again contemplating a test that would encourage the wider use of side airbags designed to protect passengers during vehicle rollovers, according to a report Thursday.
It used to be that if you wanted a car that was really safe, you paid for it. Safety was a luxury you found in expensive European cars like Volvo and BMW.
The Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego, when equipped with optional side airbags, earned a Gold "Top Safety Pick" award for large cars from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Audi A6 was given the Silver award for large cars.
Two minivans with standard side airbags earned "Best pick" ratings in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's first side-impact crash tests on minivans. Two other minivans without side airbags were rated "Poor."
These days, auto companies tout their crash-test ratings and advanced safety features in ads because they think safety sells. But might they be better off hawking cruise control and a full-sized spare tire?
Headrests in most minivans don't provide enough protection in the case of a rear-end crash, according to an insurance industry auto group.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave two large luxury cars its top safety ratings in front and side impact crash test results released Sunday.
SUVs are more stable and less prone to rollovers than they were in 2001, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday.
Eight large cars scored top ratings in frontal crash tests recently conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
After naming the Ford Focus as one of its recommended vehicles in March, then quickly dropping that recommendation following a "Poor" rating in a side-impact crash test, Consumer Reports magazine is now changing its system for rating cars.
The Federal crash-test program may understate rollover and side-impact risks, a newspaper report said Thursday, citing a government report.
The 2005 Volkswagen Jetta received the best score ever in a side-impact crash test performed by an insurance group.
The 2005 models of the Toyota Tacoma and the Dodge Dakota received the top safety ratings in both front and side crash tests, the government reported Wednesday, while the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra got the lowest ratings.
Q What's the difference between all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive? Manufacturers refer to their vehicles as being one or the other, and some magazines use the labels interchangeably. I'm confuse...
Occupants of small cars and small and mid-sized SUVs are most likely to die in an auto accident, while those in large cars and minivans are the least likely, according to a study released Tuesday.
Few small, fuel-efficient cars performed even marginally well in side-impact crash tests conducted earlier this year by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The organization gave an acceptable rating to only two: Toyota Corolla and Chevrolet Cobalt.
Of 14 small cars involved in a test of side-impact crash safety, 12 received a rating of "Poor" from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
General Motors Corp. has repeatedly delayed reporting vehicle defects that could result in recalls, government regulators said in public documents provided by the Center for Auto Safety, a safety advocacy group.
Q. We followed your advice and bought a 2004 Acura MDX at a discount. The manual suggests using premium gasoline. Do I really have to pour the high-priced stuff into this car?
Front crash tests on five small cars by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety yielded the first "Poor" rating given by the Institute since 2001.
Ford's new Five Hundred sedan earned the best possible score of five stars for front and side impact protection for occupants in all seating positions, according to new test results of 2005 models released Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration passed two new regulations this week designed to make car seats safer.
Ford Motor Co. has released illustrations of a concept vehicle, a new version of the Explorer Sport Trac sport/utility pick-up, scheduled to be unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.
We drove them all and drove 'em hard. Sedans, sports cars and sport utes. Coupes and crossovers. Minivans and pickups. With cars and trucks being unveiled at a record pace, we tested more than 40 a...
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are expanding the use of anti-rollover technology on their popular sport/utility models, addressing a major safety risk for the vehicles.
The Chrysler 300 sedan and its corporate cousin, the Dodge Magnum wagon, received the highest safety rating for passenger cars in the first group of 2005 models tested by the government.
I was sitting in the driver's seat of a 340 horsepower Dodge Magnum with its nose between a pair of orange traffic cones in a largely empty football stadium parking lot.
Of eight midsized sedans tested for side impact protection, four earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's top rating of "good."
Electronic stability sensors seem to be effective in reducing rollovers and single-vehicle crashes, especially in SUVs, safety regulators said Thursday.
Ladies and gentlemen, a new cup-holder record. The 2005 Honda Odyssey will cuddle 17 beverages in its top-shelf Touring model, a mere 15 in other versions. Even that's enough for seven two-fisted p...
Last month, General Motors Saturn unit was forced to recall 246,000 of its VUE sport-utility vehicles, after the vehicle's rear suspension broke during rollover testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Ladies and gentlemen, a new cup-holder record. The 2005 Honda Odyssey will cuddle 17 beverages in its top-shelf Touring model, a mere 15 in other versions. Even that's enough for seven two-fisted passengers, plus a bottle for baby.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new, more detailed, rollover rating still isn't telling you enough, some safety experts say.
The 4-wheel drive Chrysler Pacifica received the top ranking among all 2004 model year sport/utility vehicles that have been rated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new, more detailed, roll-over ratings. The new rating system was announced today.
In new crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the 2004 Toyota Rav4 became the first vehicle to earn a double "Best Pick" rating: one for side-impact safety and one for frontal-crash safety. It earned that rating, however, only when equipped with optional side air bags.
When you're choosing a new car, you've got to have priorities. You need performance. You need room to carry stuff. You need style. You need fuel economy. But there's one factor that should beat them all: safety.
If you're shopping for a new sport utility vehicle and you want to buy one that's less likely to roll over in a crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's five-star rollover resistance ratings can be helpful.
When National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a new round of star ratings for rollover resistance last week, many media reports pointed out that SUVs had "improved" in their stability.
The Mazda RX-8 was the only car to get the top rating in a new government test for the risk of a rollover accident, but six of 16 light trucks tested tipped up on two wheels.
Ten models of midsize sedans received a failing grade in a test simulating a side-impact crash with an SUV or pickup, according to results released Sunday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Of 13 midsized cars subjected to an insurance research agency's tough new side-impact crash test, only two protected occupants well enough to earn a "Good" rating.
For a city whose denizens spend more time on the subway than the freeway, New York still manages to grab the automotive spotlight for a few weeks each spring.
For a city whose denizens spend more time on the subway than the freeway, New York still manages to grab the automotive spotlight for a few weeks each spring.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released crash test results for 2004 model-year four-door sedans. While most vehicles protected their crash-test dummy occupants relatively well, those with side airbags outperformed those without, taking the top spots in most categories.
How well a vehicle protects a dummy in a crash test closely reflects how well that same vehicle will protect a driver in an actual crash, according to a new report.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Safety Administration released rollover ratings for 2004 sport utility vehicles today.
Beaters. That's what my brother and I called the cars my father bought us when we were teenagers. They were older cars that would stand up to the scrapes we'd inflict before we learned to judge whe...
It's an all too familiar scene to anyone with a driver's license. You're cruising along, maybe too relaxed, and it happens: A patch of ice, an unexpected puddle, whatever, and the car fishtails. Yo...
It's the biggest disconnect in the automotive world. As millions of consumers clamor for an ever-growing SUV lineup, regulators, politicians and pundits savage the same vehicles for their fuel-thir...
And you thought great car deals would vanish a few weeks after the "Keep America Rolling" TV ads went off the air. Not so. Desperate measures on the part of car dealers anxious to clinch any sale m...
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