"Europeans" hold a blow

In the competition for safety, the Volkswagen cars the American Road Safety Insurance Institute (IIHS) has changed the security car evaluation system. From now on, models that have shown perfectly in both frontal and side Crash tests are assigned the silver label “Top Safety Peak” (“Safe”). Those cars that protect passengers also when hitting behind, receive “gold” - although, according to statistics, the number of deaths in such accidents is extremely small (about 3% of the total number of serious accidents).

The organizers emphasize that the testing technique remained the same, only the score of the assessment has changed - towards simplification. Employees of the institute studied the opinion of consumers and came to the conclusion that it is difficult for a person choosing a car to understand the intricacies of points and criteria. “We decided to form a single assessment system for buyers, which would be based on the results of all the tests we conduct,” says the head of the institute Brian Oowel.

Recall that IIHS tests are close to European: the test car accelerates to 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) and beat the driver's side of the deformable obstacle. Then the experts determine how deformed the interior and analyze the readings of the sensors built into the Hybrid III mannequins. In addition to the front dough, a trial test is carried out when a mobile barl is “crashed into a car that imitates a pickup or an SUV, and a run up in the back. According to the results of each of the tests, the degree of damage to the head, chest, arms and legs is evaluated as “small”, “acceptable”, “critical” or “unsatisfactory”.

The first awards have already found heroes. It is noteworthy that in the top ten “silver” and “gold” winners only three models of American production fell. The remaining places on the pedestal went to the "Europeans" and "Japanese". Especially many positions in the hit parade were occupied by middle-class cars, extremely popular in America (40% of sales), and with us. So, the “gold” was awarded the Saab 9-3 and Subaru Legacy (both models are sold in Russia), the “silver” got the Chevrolet Malibu sedan and four models of the Volkswagen: Audi A3 and A4, VW Passat and Jetta. The success of Volkswagen analysts explain to the fact that among the contestants the German bodies are the most “fresh” and better than others hold a blow.

Only one winner was discovered in the golf class-the new Honda Civic, and among the business class models, Ford Five Hundred was distinguished by the Mercury Montego (gold label) and Audi with the A6 (Silver) model. There are no winners among pickups and SUVs, since they are not checked for a lateral blow, and not one of the mini-wenes, as it turned out, even pulls on “silver”.

The organizers of Crash tests are sure that 2005 will not bring new sensations. The largest world manufacturers knew about the new methodology in advance, however, a few decided to submit an application for the first of all tests. In particular, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo, Nissan and Toyota chose not to risk reputation and continued to modify their models. “We talked with the leadership of many auto giants and came to the conclusion that none of the 2006 models could receive the highest assessment,” says Oowel.

12/05/2005 / Pavel Sedelnikov, the material was published in the newspaper No. 231 dated 06.12.2005.