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Korean Automakers Challenge Insurance Safety Study

March 16, 2005
Korean automakers expressed doubt over an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) survey that ranked some of the Korean cars sold in the United States low in terms of driver safety during accidents.

IIHS-Auto Safety • Acura TSX Luxury Sedan Top Safety Pick • Nissan Murano Leads SUV Safety Test • Lexus EX35, Cadillac CTS Named Top Safety Picks • Nissan Quest Worst Performer in Minivan Bumper Test • Study: Crash Tests Predict Fatalities In Cars, Not Trucks • Top Safety Awards Go to 34 Cars, SUVs and a Pickup • Midsize SUVs Perform Poorly in Side Impacts • BMW 5 Series Performs Poorly in New Impact Test • Luxury Cars a "Mediocre Lot" in Low-Speed Collisions • Light Trucks Vulnerable to Whiplash --- • More IIHS Tests

The survey indicated that drivers of Kia Motors' compact Rio, its sport utility vehicle Sportage and Hyundai Motor's compact Accent face a high risk of death in traffic accidents.

Hyundai and Kia claimed the survey lacks credibility because it relies on small samples and does not account for differences in driver behavior among different types of vehicles. For example, drivers of expensive luxury sedans are generally older while drivers of inexpensive compact SUVs are mostly younger males, who are more prone to accidents.

"The IIHS survey supposes that owners of cars involved in more accidents are more liable to die," a Kia official said. "Let's put it more clearly. There are 10 Rios in the U.S. and one driver died after an accident. Then can we say 100,000 Rio drivers may die if there are one million Rios? That's nonsense."

"It would be right to say that some Rio drivers die in car accidents. But only a small number of Rios are being sold in the U.S. and it is impossible to estimate how many Rio drivers per million will die."

General Motors also released a statement questioning the credibility of the survey.

The IIHS said it collected data on traffic accidents involving passenger vehicles and small-sized trucks from 2000-2003 on U.S. highways and calculated the death rates of drivers for each vehicle.

If one million Sportage drivers were involved in deadly accidents on U.S. highways, 197 would be expected to die, according to the survey. The study cited Rio as the most dangerous Korean car, with 200 per million drivers likely to die in accidents.

The death rates for Rio and Sportage drivers were much higher than those for Mercedes-Benz's E-class series, which was ranked the safest of all vehicles on U.S. roads. Ten per million E-class drivers would die in accidents, the survey said.

The survey said drivers of General Motor's SUV Blazer are at the highest risk of death. About 308 Blazer drivers per million would die if their cars were involved in accidents. The figures for Hyundai's Accent drivers were 150 per million and Elantra 88 per million, while the average death rate for all vehicles was 87 per million.

Hyundai Motor officials said the IIHS should have been more careful in conducting the driver safety survey because accidents occur under many different situations. Owners of luxury sedans that have better safety features than small cars are less liable to die during crashes, but the IIHS didn't take that into account, they said.

The institute, funded by auto insurers in the U.S., conducts various traffic-related surveys, particularly on crashes on the U.S. highways.

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