The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced Thursday it has named the Audi A6 and Volkswagen Passat to its list of top safety picks, a designation that could make it easier for owners of those vehicles to get low-priced
auto insurance in Colorado and other states.
The midsized Passat and the A6, a large luxury car, join the ranks of dozens of vehicles that have earned the IIHS’ top accolade this year. The Institute, a nonprofit organization that researches ways to reduce highway deaths, injuries and property damage, honors those vehicles that exceed federal safety regulations and outperform other automobiles in crash tests.
Both the A6 and the Passat earned the top rating of “good” for front, side, rear crash and rollover protection and showed good roof strength in simulated rollover crashes. Both vehicles have been redesigned for the 2012 model year and come standard with electronic stability control (ESC) systems that are mandated by federal regulations that took effect this month.
ESC systems use computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to help motorists maintain control in situations in which a vehicle is losing directional stability in its front or rear wheels, preventing vehicles from leaving the roadway and possibly rolling over.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that ESC systems could reduce single vehicle crashes involving cars by 34 percent and those involving SUVs by as much as 59 percent.
The high-tech safety features could save from 5,300 to 9,600 lives and prevent as many as 238,000 injuries a year once all light vehicles are equipped with them, according to NHTSA.
While a top performance on safety tests will not guarantee lower premiums for motorists, vehicles with extensive safety features and lower-than-average injury and damage claim costs may be considered less of a risk to insure, and owners may see a small price break.
Coverage providers tend to set higher first-party insurance rates for owners of vehicles that have greater susceptibility to occupant injury and subsequent medical bills and do not include safety features that have been proven to save lives and lessen the extent of injuries.
