The American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has once again confirmed Volvo 's leading position in the field of car safety. According to its latest report, the Volvo S60 is one of two cars to achieve the best result in the new IIHS small-overlap crash test.
In this new test, the car crashes 25 percent of its width on the driver's side into a fixed obstacle at 64 km/h. A Hybrid III test dummy sits in the driver's seat during the test. The test was designed to simulate a situation where the front corner of a vehicle collides with another vehicle or an obstacle such as a tree or pole.
A relatively small overlap represents a very serious type of accident. The goal of the brand is to produce cars that will help protect the crew even in the most unfavorable situations that can occur in real traffic. This test confirms that the Volvo systems work as intended even if the impact is only directed at a small part of the nose.
Volvo's efforts in the field of safety have recently been recognized in several studies. Last year, a full five Volvo models (C30, S60, S80, XC60 and XC90) received the Top Safety Pick award. Volvo was the only European luxury brand to receive the IIHS award for five models in 2011.
In addition, the XC60 was the only SUV crossover to receive both the IIHS Top Safety Pick award and 5 stars in US NCAP tests. In tests conducted in 2010, the XC60 received 5 stars in all individual crash tests, 5 stars for driver protection, 5 for front passenger protection and also 5 stars in both side impact tests.
