The insurance group revealed that only three out of eleven high-end vehicles from the 2012 model year passed the new car accident test, which focused at front-corner impacts since front-corner is often not well protected by vehicles’ crush zone structures.
Incidentally, crash zone structures are already available in modern vehicles. However, the same is only better in protecting passengers from direct collision from the front; therefore, the insurance group is calling for a better safety gear.
Meanwhile, automakers that earned poor rating in the test include BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus.
The rating was derived from a test that simulated what happens as the front corner of a car hits another vehicle or a solid object like a tree or a pole. In the said crash test, the insurance group rammed 25 percent of a car’s front-end on the driver’s side into a 5-foot high rigid barrier at a speed of 40mph.
Meanwhile, the insurance group plans to incorporate the same in tests of other vehicles.
The fact here is that if luxury vehicles are failing at a high level, it is possible that most cars will not likely perform well, according to Consumer Reports’ auto testing program director, David Champion.
Champion speculated that it will take five to ten years more before automakers finally figure out how to perform best in the crash test.
During the recent crash test, both the Acura TL and Volvo S60 earned good ratings, while the Infiniti G was rated as acceptable. On the other hand, Audi’s A4, Lexus ES350, Lexus IS 250/350, and Mercedes Benz C-Class received poor ratings.
The insurance group anticipates that the new rating program will address the problem of small overlap car accidents.
A Los Angeles auto accident attorney agrees with the insurance group when the latter said that the automakers could possibly provide more effective protection by designing the passenger safety cage to avoid front-corner impacts, which could result to serious leg and foot injuries.
