These ratings, however, can be misleading. Because crashing a car into a fixed barrier is essentially the same as crashing it into another car with the same mass, the star rating system says nothing about how that car will fare when colliding with another car with, for example, greater mass. In fact, cars with smaller mass will always be less safe than cars of greater mass. A passenger in a car that collides with another car that is 50% larger will have 2-5 times the risk of death, depending on the model year and a few other variables.
This truth creates some degree of conflict with both NHTSA and environmental groups because the new corporate automotive fuel economy ruling requires that manufacturers meet fuel economy requirements for their fleets. This means that gas guzzlers can still be produced as long as most of the fleet have better fuel efficiency. Moreover, the single largest growing class of vehicles is the utility sports vehicle, which are generally equipped with large motors and exempt from some of the emission rules because they are not classified as passenger cars. Nevertheless, their higher mass provides a margin of safety in crashes.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) takes crash testing to new highs, and has recently released the results of their 40 mph crash tests of six large luxury models: the BMW 5 series, Lexus LS 400, Mercedes E class, Lincoln Continental, Infiniti Q45, and Cadillac Seville. The overall winners were the BMW 5 series and the Lexus LS 400. The Cadillac Seville came in dead last. The following is a summary of the results of the frontal offset crash tests:
BMW 5 series
| Structure: | good |
| Restraints/dummy kinematics: | good |
Injury Measures:
| Head/neck | good |
| Chest | good |
| Leg/foot, left | good |
| Leg/foot, right | good |
| Head restraint design: | marginal* |
| Bumper performance: | poor |
*"acceptable" with certain seat options
Lexus LS 400
| Structure: | good |
| Restraints/dummy kinematics | good |
Injury Measures:
| Head/neck | good |
| Chest | good |
| Leg/foot, left | good |
| Leg/foot, right | good |
| Head restraint design: | marginal |
| Bumper performance: | poor |
Mercedes E-class
| Structure: | good |
| Restraints/dummy kinematics | poor |
Injury Measures:
| Head/neck | good |
| Chest | good |
| Leg/foot, left | good |
| Leg/foot, right | good |
| Head restraint design: | good |
| Bumper performance: | poor |
Lincoln Continental
| Structure: | acceptable |
| Restraints/dummy kinematics | good |
Injury Measures:
| Head/neck | acceptable |
| Chest | good |
| Leg/foot, left | poor |
| Leg/foot, right | acceptable |
| Head restraint design: | poor |
| Bumper performance: | good |
Infiniti Q45
| Structure: | acceptable |
| Restraints/dummy kinematics | marginal |
Injury Measures:
| Head/neck | marginal |
| Chest | good |
| Leg/foot, left | marginal |
| Leg/foot, right | acceptable |
| Head restraint design: | marginal |
| Bumper performance: | poor |
Cadillac Seville
| Structure: | poor |
| Restraints/dummy kinematics | poor |
Injury Measures:
| Head/neck | good |
| Chest | good |
| Leg/foot, left | good |
| Leg/foot, right | poor |
| Head restraint design: | poor |
| Bumper performance: | acceptable |
Bumper performance was tested through a series of 5 mph crashes and tells more about the costs of repairing parking lot mishaps and low speed bumps. The most damaging of these are the crashes into poles which concentrate the energy into a small area of the bumper. In the case of the Lexus, the rear-into-pole test resulted in $3,000 of damage -- ouch!
For more information on this topic, contact the IIHS at www.hwysafety.org.
Arthur C. Croft, DC, MS, FACO
San Diego, California
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