According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), American highways are safer than ever, despite the fact that we are driving more miles each year. For 2010, the NHTSA recorded 32,788 traffic accident fatalities, the lowest since it began tracking the data in 1949. Now, if we could just get people to stop driving after they’ve been drinking alcohol, more than 10,000 additional lives could be saved.
At the same time that traffic fatalities are falling and miles driven are increasing, Americans are starting to favor smaller vehicles for their greater fuel economy and lower price tags. This is particularly true with regard to small crossover SUVs, which offer an attractive blend of practicality, interior room, gas mileage, and available all-wheel drive for greater traction in foul weather conditions.
Small SUVs are now equipped with antilock brakes, dual front impact airbags, a tire pressure monitoring system, and headrests designed to reduce injury. Most also include side-impact and side-curtain airbags as well as a traction and stability control system. Plus, new safety technologies like blind spot monitors and detection systems, lane departure warning systems, and drowsy driver detection systems are becoming widely available. Combine these advances in safety technology with dramatically increased use of seat belts and child safety seats, and its not hard to understand why more Americans are surviving collisions while driving or riding in modern vehicles.
But safety features aren't the entire story. Vehicles are now engineered to crumple on impact, and their underlying structures effectively absorb and deflect crash energy away from the passenger cabin. Consider also that contemporary models are generally heavier than older cars, and in a collision between two otherwise equally matched vehicles, the heavier car always protects its occupants better.
Given the popularity of small SUVs, Vehix has created this list of models that are the safest. We reviewed overall crash-test ratings provided by the NHTSA as of February 1, 2012, and included all of the Top Safety Picks for the 2012 model year, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The resulting list includes small SUVs that are either an IIHS Top Safety Pick, or have received a 4-Star or 5-Star overall crash-test rating from the NHTSA. In some cases, the listed model has performed well in both sets of tests.
Up First: 2012 Chevrolet Equinox
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