By: Jeffrey Ross
Autotropolis.com
It’s probably safe to say that eco-friendly cars like the Chevrolet Aveo, Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris are not going to become dream cars anytime soon. Yet with their affordable prices and superior fuel economy, these cars are sprouting up on just about every dealership lot in the country and are attractive for the price-wary, environmentally conscious drivers.
But as the cars get smaller, the level of protection offered in collisions is inherently decreased - especially side-impact collisions. In some cars, saving the environment may put the vehicle occupants in harm's way.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS, recently tested 24 of the latest model cars it classifies as either a small car or a minicar in front, side and rear collisions. All of the vehicles tested perform good or acceptable in front-end crashes, but when it came to side-impact crash protection it seems that drivers’ safety is their own hands… and wallets. With all the gadgets and gizmos on cars today, some of the best options could be one that most drivers would prefer to never need: the airbags. While front airbags have become mandatory for front passenger protection in frontal collisions, side airbags remain an option on most vehicles.
The side impact test uses an SUV-sized object crashing into the driver’s side of the vehicles at 31 mph. The IIHS uses injury data and measures the level of head protection on the crash test dummies in the front and back seats as well as observing the vehicle’s structural performance to determine their ratings. In cases where a vehicle has optional side airbags, the IIHS tests that vehicle with and without the airbags equipped. Their four ratings are: good, acceptable, marginal and poor. All vehicles are 2007 models unless noted otherwise.
In some of the cases, it was shown that having side airbags helps protect the occupants of a car during a collision. For example, the Toyota Yaris equipped with side airbags received a “good” rating in side-impact protection while the non-airbag equipped model received a “poor” rating. Similarly, the Toyota Corolla and Chevrolet Cobalt received “acceptable” ratings with the optional side airbags and “poor” ratings without.
In the small car category, the Honda Civic, Subaru Impreza, Nissan Versa and Toyota Prius are all equipped with standard side airbags and received a “good” rating. The Honda Fit is the only minicar with standard airbags to receive a “good” rating. The Chevrolet Aveo and 2006 Mini Cooper both come standard with side airbags and received “marginal” and “acceptable” ratings, respectively. The Volkswagen New Beetle, Hyundai Accent/Kia Rio, 2006 Kia Spectra and Suzuki’s Aerio and Reno/Forenza all have standard side airbags but performed poorly in side-impact test crashes. The popular Dodge Caliber is equipped with standard side airbags and received a marginal rating.
One car that the optional side airbags could be left off the option list is the Saturn Ion which received “poor” ratings with or without airbags. The 2006 Scion xB was the only vehicle in the test that didn’t even offer side airbags and like the other vehicles tested without the added protection, received a “poor” rating. The Mazda 3 and Mitsubishi Lancer both received “poor” ratings when not equipped with the side airbags, but no test ratings are available for the models with the optional side airbags equipped.