The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released its annual list of the safest cars and trucks. Ford, along with its subsidiary Volvo, has the most vehicles on the list. For the 2009 model year, 72 cars and trucks made the IIHS list of safest vehicles, which is more than double the number in 2008.
In order to make the IIHS list of safest vehicles, a car or truck has to earn a top safety rating in front, side and rear crash tests and come with electronic stability control. Electronic stability control senses when one or more tires on a vehicle lose traction and automatically applies brakes on other tires to prevent a rollover. The IIHS routinely upgrades the requirements for its safest cars list as safety technology improves.
Ford has 16 cars and trucks on this year’s list, compared with 13 from Honda and eight from GM and Toyota. Chrysler did not have a single vehicle on the list,
according to The Detroit News.
"No matter what kind of vehicle buyers may be considering, now they can walk into just about any dealership and find one that affords the best overall protection in serious crashes," said Institute President Adrian Lund.
The 2009 Ford Taurus is one of the IIHS top picks.
