Passenger cars win top safety pick award

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently introduced the new “Top Safety Pick” award and the very first gold winners are the Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego with optional side air bags (the Five Hundred and Montego are corporate twins and as such defined as the same car by the institute); the Saab 9-3; the Subaru Legacy and the Honda Civic four-door. The award winners were granted gold based on their performance in frontal offset and side impact tests and a test that reviews seat and head restraints in rear crashes.The Audi A6, Audi A3 and Audi A4; the Chevrolet Malibu with optional side air bags and the Volkswagen Jetta and Passat won silver awards.Minivans did not win any awards while pickups and sports utility vehicles are still in the testing stage. The institute’s president Brian O’Neill says the new award, which replaces the previous “best pick” practice which observes a vehicles performance in each of the three tests, will help consumers compare vehicles without having to review multiple sets of tests.