Toyota's Rear-end Black Mark
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday December 8, 2006
A leading US safety body has taken aim at Toyota for not providing enough protection from rear-end crashes. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has excluded several Toyota vehicles from its annual Top Safety Pick awards because they give only "marginal" protection in a rear-end accident.
The institute named 13 vehicles as Top Safety Picks including Audi's A6 and A4, Subaru's Tribeca and Forester off-roaders, the Mercedes-Benz M-Class and Volvo's XC90. But Toyota's top-selling Camry missed the cut because it was deemed to have only marginal rear crash protection. Its RAV4, Prius and Lexus GS350 also rated marginal.Honda's Odyssey rated marginal as well, while its Accord rated poor.The Institute says Toyota and Lexus could have earned nine Top Safety Pick awards between them if they had better rear crash protection. It rates cars in four categories: good, acceptable, marginal and poor. To win an award a car must gain a good rating in front, side and rear protection. It also has to have stability control.
© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald