IIHS honors 11 vehicles with TOP SAFETY PICK award

ARLINGTON, Va. – Four small cars, two mid-sized cars, two mid-sized SUVs, one large luxury car, one small pickup, and a mid-sized  ]convertible are the latest winners of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) TOP SAFETY PICK award. Winners are judged based on overall crash protection among the vehicles in their classes, and to qualify, a vehicle must earn the highest rating of good in the Institute's front, side, and rear tests. It also must be equipped with electronic stability control.  RELATED NEWS

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"Criteria to win are tough because TOP SAFETY PICK is intended to drive continued improvements such as good crash test ratings and rapid addition of electronic stability control, which is standard equipment on nine of the 11 new winners," says Institute president Adrian Lund. "Recognizing vehicles at the head of the class for safety helps consumers distinguish the best overall choices without having to sort through multiple test results."

Winners by vehicle class are:

• Small cars: 2009 Honda Civic with optional electronic stability control, 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer with optional electronic stability control, 2008-09 Scion xB, and 2009 Volkswagen Rabbit;

• Mid-sized cars: 2009 Volkswagen Jetta and 2009 Volkswagen Passat

• Large luxury car: 2009 Lincoln MKS;

• Mid-sized SUVs: 2009 Ford Flex and 2009 Honda Pilot;

• Small pickup: 2009 Toyota Tacoma; and

• Mid-sized convertible: 2009 Volkswagen Eos.

The Institute's frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of 40 mph frontal offset crash tests. Each vehicle's overall evaluation is based on measurements of intrusion into the occupant compartment, injury measures recorded on a Hybrid III dummy in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.

For more information about the ratings go to www.iihs.org.