In a crash experiment conducted by an insurance industry group, Honda’s Civic was awarded the top grade whereas “bad” ratings were given to Kia models and Nissan’s Sentra.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety wrote in the report that half of the 12 tiny sedans tested in a fatal front-end crash got acceptable scores while the remaining got marginal scores. Tiny sedans fared better on average in the recreation of a small overlap collision than tiny sports cars did in May.
Since 2014 models were tested, producers of top-performing cars may use the results in their marketing campaigns and same results may persuade buyers with their purchases. The experiment performed by the Arlington, Virginia-based insurance industry will encourage manufactures to create safer cars.
Senior analyst Karl Brauer from a California-based automotive research group Kelley Blue book said to Bloomberg. “The results underscore that safety need not to be sacrificed in buying small vehicles.”
Small cars are usually regarded as less safe than bigger cars. However, the experiment proved that people should start looking at these smaller cars differently as it has been proven competitive in terms of safety.
The institute’s test which was introduced last year, imitates a car’s front corner crashing with another car, pole or tree.
David Zuby, the institute’s chief research officer, said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg, “In the worst cases, safety cages collapsed, driver air bags moved sideways with unstable steering columns, and the dummy’s head hit the instrument panel. Side curtain air bags didn't deploy or fail to provide enough forward coverage to make a difference. All of this adds up to marginal or poor protection in a small overlap crash.”
According to a Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based researcher, Autodata Corp., in U.S.’s category of “upper small cars,” Honda’s Civic is the top-selling brand and the second best-selling automobile next to Accord.
The institute will be conducting the same experiment in other cars such as the Minicars, Honda Fit and Fiat 500, and will have the results released this year.
