Honda Civic Aces new IIHS Dual Barrier Crash Test

 
DETROIT -- Two redesigned Honda Civic models were the only small cars to get the top rating in stringent front-end crash tests performed by an insurance industry group.

Half of the 12 compact and subcompact cars tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety fared poorly, but six performed well. Safety is critical in the fast-growing small-car market, as buyers downsize from larger vehicles.

The two-door and four-door Civics earned "good" ratings, while the Dodge Dart, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra and the 2014 Scion tC were "acceptable."

Popular models such as the Chevrolet Cruze and Sonic and the Volkswagen Beetle got "marginal" ratings, while the Nissan Sentra, Kia Soul and 2014 Kia Forte were rated "poor."

The group didn't test the Toyota Corolla because a new version is coming out in the fall. The Corolla is the No. 2-selling small car in America, behind the Civic.

The two Civic models and the Dart, Focus, Elantra and Scion tC each earned the IIHS' coveted Top Safety Pick Plus award for performing well in multiple tests, including the small offset crash. So far, 25 vehicles of all sizes have earned the award.

The IIHS ratings are influential because many auto shoppers find them while researching vehicles on the Internet.

The market for small cars is one of fastest-growing in the U.S. Automakers have made the cars quieter and more refined as people who want good gas mileage turn to compacts and subcompacts.

So far this year, Americans have bought more than 1.8 million new small cars, up 12 per cent over a year ago, according to Autodata Corp. IIHS said that as a group, small cars performed worse than mid-sized cars, but better than small SUVs.

Results for mini-cars will be released later in the year, the group said. Kia said in a statement the IIHS test goes beyond U.S. government requirements and noted the Soul and Forte received top safety ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Nissan said it will review the IIHS tests. The Sentra, it said, performed well in other IIHS tests.

Honda bolstered the Civic's front structure as part of a redesign late last year, said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

Some older models, such as the Cruze and Sonic, were designed before the test was announced.

The IIHS, a non-profit research group funded by insurance companies, conducts its small offset test by crashing vehicles into a fixed 1.5-metre-tall barrier at 65 km/h to simulate collisions with a utility pole or tree.

The institute gives vehicles demerits when the structure intrudes into the passenger compartment, or if a crash dummy suffers injuries to head, neck, chest or other body parts. "Good" is the top rating, followed by "acceptable," then "marginal" and "poor."

 --The Associated Press

Inside IIHS: Frontal offset testing Video

Interesting....

NHTSA confirms new deputy, considers push for automatic braking

I for one am not a fan of the Auto Braking, I am a fan of a Collision Warning System, I think that having a Automated system could cause an accident in a false-positive situation.... (ie:  going around a round a bout with parked cars on the side curb)....

WASHINGTON -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has confirmed David Friedman, previously a transportation analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, as its new deputy administrator.

Friedman, an engineer by training who has pushed for stricter fuel economy standards and lower oil consumption while working at the advocacy group, replaces Ron Medford, who left NHTSA last year to lead Google Inc.'s self-driving cars project.

NHTSA Administrator David Strickland made the announcement today during a congressional hearing on crash-prevention features and other new technologies that could boost the safety of cars.

During the hearing, Strickland said the agency is getting closer to calling for automatic braking.

Automatic braking systems use a camera or radar system to detect oncoming vehicles and objects and then apply the brakes if the driver fails to do so.

Automakers such as Volvo and Mercedes-Benz have started to offer such features in their high-end cars or as optional equipment, earning praise from groups such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which says Volvo's "City Safety" system appears to be effective at preventing crashes in stop-and-start traffic.

In a report released last month, the institute said insurance claims are being filed about 16 percent less often for S60 sedans equipped with the feature than for other mid-sized luxury cars and 15 percent less often for the XC60 than for comparable luxury SUVs.

In an effort to hasten the adoption of such technologies, NHTSA ordered automakers to outfit all cars with electronic stability control starting in the 2011 model year.

A similar mandate for automatic braking could be next. Strickland told reporters after the hearing that NHTSA could end up ordering the use of automatic braking or merely recommend it through the federal government's New Car Assessment Program.

The agency also could decide to do more research on the subject.

Strickland said agency staffers "are working through that right now, and they'll be bringing it to me for an agency decision this year."

Source;
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130515/OEM11/130519924/nhtsa-confirms-new-deputy-considers-push-for-automatic-braking#axzz2TSOZRP5V

First Front Center Airbag: New Chevrolet Traverse Ad [Video]

Now that the engineers have done their job and created GM’s industry-first front center airbag, it’s time for the automotive producer’s marketing department to enter the scene and bring this yo our attention.

Chevrolet has recently launched a commercial that showcases the airbag on the Traverse. Speaking of this, we have to explain that the Transverse comes standard with six airbags. There are dual-stage front airbags, the driver and front passenger get seat-mounted side units, while occupants of all three rows benefit from curtain head airbags.

As for the central airbag, this is only offered as an option. We are talking about the entry-level grades, where it is advertised as a no-cost option, but selecting it forces you to also choose the $550 8-way power adjustable driver’s seat.


Source;
http://www.autoevolution.com/news/first-front-center-airbag-new-chevrolet-traverse-ad-video-59395.html

Honda’s Civic Tops All Safety Ratings

by Philippe Crowe of www.hybridcars.com

The new 2013 Honda Civic Sedan has received the highest possible overall safety ratings from both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

This is good news for a car that is known to be one of the most popular small car among individual buyers

The 2013 Civic Sedan recently received the top 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score in the NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), and the highest possible rating of Top Safety Pick+ from the IIHS, including a top score of Good in the new small overlap frontal collision test.

Honda said it leads all automakers with every one of its tested model year 2013 vehicles earning a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ rating from the IIHS.

The 2013 Honda Civic Sedan and Coupe are the first and only small cars to earn the IIHS’ highest safety rating of Top Safety Pick, and the NCAP 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score for the Civic Sedan further separates Civic from the competition in safety ratings performance.

The 2013 Accord also earned these high safety ratings in the midsize segment.

“Car shoppers cannot find a small car with higher overall safety ratings than the 2013 Honda Civic,” said Art St. Cyr, vice president of product planning and logistics at American Honda. “Safety ratings leadership across product lines is a fundamental part of not only our strategic business plan, but also our philosophy as a company.”

The Civic Sedan, which Honda said was significantly re-engineered for 2013, is equipped with Honda’s next generation Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure, which contributes to make Civic the first small car to earn a Top Safety Pick+ crash safety rating, and the first to earn the highest rating of GOOD in the IIHS’ new small overlap frontal crash test (sometimes called a ‘narrow offset’ test).

This aggressive test is designed to simulate what happens when the front corner of a vehicle collides with another vehicle or an object such as a tree or utility pole at high speed.

Honda said the reinforced ACE body structure found on the 2013 Civic further enhances frontal crash energy through a wider range of these offset and oblique collision scenarios.

Additional standard safety equipment on all Civic models include Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) with traction control; an Anti-lock Braking System (ABS); side curtain airbags; dual-stage, multiple-threshold front airbags; and driver and front passenger side airbags.

Source;
http://www.hybridcars.com/hondas-civic-tops-all-safety-ratings/