Most Luxury Vehicles Fail New IIAH Frontal Crash Test
On behalf of Brown & Crouppen, P.C. posted in Defective Products on Thursday, August 16, 2012
When people in Missouri go shopping for a new car or truck, they usually notice when automakers trumpet the fact that their vehicle got a good safety rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The IIHS is a nonprofit organization funded by car insurance companies that rates how safe motor vehicles are based on tests it conducts. The tests include the well-known crash test, where researchers simulate various common car accidents and use dummies to examine how well-protected drivers and passengers would be protected from harm in the real world.
It appears that automakers still have work to do to maximize our safety. The IIHS announced recently that nine of 11 luxury cars failed a new type of crash test. The new test simulated a partial frontal collision, a common type of accident, which does not bode well for the safety rating of the tested vehicles. Specifically, the test involved a collision with one side of the vehicle’s front end at 40 miles per hour.
Of the 11 2012 model vehicles included in the test, only two earned a “good” rating: the Acura TL and the Volvo S60. A third, the Infiniti G, received an “acceptable” rating. The IIHS rated the other eight vehicles “marginal” or “poor.” They were the Acura TSX, BMW 3 Series, Lincoln MKZ, Volkswagen CC, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Lexus IS, Audi A4 and Lexus ES.
The results reveal that safety measures to protect people during head-on crashes do not necessarily translate to more angular collisions. The IIHS’ president said that there are more than 10,000 fatalities in frontal car accidents per year.
Source: KSDK-TV, “Crash test results: Most luxury sedans flunk,” Kristen Gosling, Aug. 14, 2012
Our law firm represents clients in the St. Louis area who are injured by defective cars and other products. For more information, please go to our St. Louis defective products page.