Safest Cars for 2007 What is the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety? The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an organization that crash tests vehicles to determine the vehicles safety in the event that the vehicle is involved in a crash.  Testing to ensure all car safety measures are working, the Institute’s work is extraordinarily important: the Institute identifies the safe autos to drive and can also make recommendations about how to improve car safety.  In fact, the work of the Institute is so important that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is firmly supported by auto car insurance carriers. The Insurance Institute for Highway safety is a non-profit organization that works toward a common goal: keeping people safe when they are on the road by determining what safe automobiles are the safest above all the rest.  While the Institute does not test all of the cars on the market today, they do test cars that are representative of the most commonly driven vehicles.  The Institute buys cars from various dealers and they offer an RSS feed that can be used to receive new crash test results.  The Institute has been testing car safety levels since 1995 and has been researching car safety since 1969. To visit the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s official website, go to: http://www.iihs.org/default.html Other Offerings from the Institute of Highway Safety The Institute is in the business of educating the public about vehicles and safety.  Consumers can get an array of brochures from the Institute that can help them find a better vehicle, one that is truly the safest to drive.  Brochures currently available include an array of topics that focus on: airbags, teenage drivers, and the like. What’s more, the Institute makes videos available for educational purposes.  For those people interested in the latest statistics, the Institute supplies the latest research and data on car crashes and fatalities. Auto car insurance carriers often rely on the research supplied by the Institute to determine coverage policies and to also determine certain risks associated with different vehicles and drivers. The Car Safety Findings for 2007 The Institute has four categories under which various testing can fall: good, average, marginal and poor.  For the year 2007, the Institute has found 13 cars on today’s market that are currently considered the safest to drive. In the category of large cars, the Institute ruled that the Audi A6 (http://www.audiusa.com/audi/us/en2/new_cars/Audi_A6.html ) one of the safest luxury vehicles on the road today.  In terms of mid-size vehicles, the Audi A4 (http://www.audiusa.com/audi/us/en2/new_cars/Audi_A4.html), the Saab 9-3 (http://www.saabusa.com/saabjsp/93s/index.jsp), and the Subaru Legacy (http://www.cars101.com/legacy.html) rated safest.  For consumers looking to get a minivan the vehicles rated safest are the Hyundai Entourage: (www.hyundaiusa.com/vehicle/entourage/entourage.aspx) and the Kia Sedona (http://www.kia.com/sedona/index.php).  Also, the Institute announced two, large, Luxury SUVs: the Mercedes M class and the Volvo XC90 rated among the safe autos in 2007.  Consumers seeking the safest midsize SUVs will be happy to know that there are three ruled car safe: the Acura RDX, the Honda Pilot, and the Subaru B9 Tribeca.  Meanwhile, there are two small SUVs that are considered among the 2007 safe autos: the Honda CR-V, and the Subaru Forester. All of the above mentioned vehicles were put through rigorous testing for car safety measurements.  The cars are put through high speed front, side, and rear crash tests; the seat belt restraints assessed and the airbag quality is tested.  In order to be deemed as a safe auto, each car must have a rating of good in all three ranges of testing and the car must have electronic stability control. Tips for Safe Auto Buying If you plan on buying a car in 2007, it’s important to consider the vehicles overall safety.  Why?  Well, the obvious reason is to keep you and your family safe.  The less than obvious reason is that a safer car may reduce your auto car insurance.  You are going to want a vehicle that not only handles well on the road, but that withstands the least amount of damage while simultaneously offering the most amount of protection in the event of a crash. You may want to get a vehicle that offers additional features of protection: some vehicles will make the driver aware that they have strayed from the road with an alarm; others will even warn a driver about objects to close to the back of the vehicle.  Also, you will want to look for new vehicles offering StabiliTrak or Stability Assistance. StabiliTrak was first introduced by Cadillac in 1997 and is now considered a standard for vehicles receiving the highest safety rating. Such features help drivers maintain control of the car, even in an emergency.  StabiliTrak is currently a feature in different vehicles manufactured by Chevy, Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Hummer, Saab, and Cadillac. For more information about StabiliTrak, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StabiliTrak