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NHTSA Gives Five Stars to 24 Passenger Vehicles

Buick LaCrosse Gets One Star for Driver-Side Impacts

February 13, 2007

NHTSA Crash Tests • Hood Latch Failures Smash Dodge Truck Windshields • Small Pickups Mostly Dismal In Side Crash Tests • Study: Crash Tests Predict Fatalities In Cars, Not Trucks • NHTSA Gives Five Stars to 24 Passenger Vehicles • NHTSA Gives 2006 SUVs High Marks • SUVs Fare Better in New Government Crash Tests • NHTSA Nixes New Crash Tests • NHTSA Plans to Crash Test 77 Models Next Year • GM Trucks Fare Poorly in Crash Tests • Study Confirms 15-Passenger Van Rollover Risk • Suzuki Verona Rates Lowest in Government Crash Test • Side Airbags Help Mitsubishi, Toyota, Volvo Sedans Top Crash Test Ratings • NHTSA Tests Understate Rollover, Side Impact Risks, GAO Finds • Tests Find Vehicles Becoming More Stable • Tire Pressure Monitors Required on 2006 Models --- • IIHS Crash Tests • Auto Safety News

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has given five stars for front and side crash tests to 24 passenger vehicles for the 2007 model year. The Buick LaCrosse got the lowest possible rating for driver-side impacts and General Motors said it would immediately change the door design.

Five stars is the highest rating available from the federal regulators at NHTSA.

The newly tested models earning five stars include seven four-door passenger vehicles:

• Dodge Caliber;
• Ford Five Hundred;
• Kia Optima;
• Mercury Montego;
• Subaru Legacy;
• Saturn Aura; and
• Toyota Camry.

NHTSA gave five stars to 17 four-door SUVs or crossovers for all seating positions. They are the

• Acura MDX;
• Acura RDX;
• Audi Q7;
• Dodge Nitro;
• Ford Freestyle;
• GMC Acadia;
• Honda CR-V;
• Honda Element;
• Hyundai Santa Fe;
• Infiniti FX35/45;
• Jeep Grand Cherokee;
• Kia Sorento;
• Kia Sportage;
• Mazda CX-7;
• Saturn Outlook;
• Subaru Outback; and the
• Toyota Highlander.

NHTSA reports it has completed frontal, side, and rollover ratings for 63 of the 70 vehicles scheduled to be tested for the 2007 model year, representing roughly 79 percent of the 2007 model year fleet.

Of all newly tested vehicles, only the Mazda6 four-door, Pontiac Solstice convertible and its twin, the Saturn Sky Convertible, earned five stars for rollover resistance.

None of those three, however, were able to attain the five star crash test safety rating for all seating positions.

Of the 24 passenger vehicles that earned a five star crash test safety rating for front and side impact, none were able to achieve five stars for rollover resistance.

Buick LaCrosse

The 2007 Buick LaCrosse received the lowest possible score in the government side-impact crash test requiring General Motors to quickly change the driver's door.

Despite the changes the one-star rating remains in safety information consumers receive about the Buick LaCrosse from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

A one-star rating suggests a greater possibility of serious injury in a crash.

GM quickly ordered alterations to the LaCrosse driver's side door trims on the assembly line and plans to ask NHTSA to retest the LaCrosse.

NHTSA often awards four or five stars to vehicles in most testing categories, causing critics to charge the test is not longer relevant.

The LaCrosse received five stars for protecting driver and passengers from injury in frontal impacts. The LaCrosse received three stars for the rear passenger in a side-impact crash and four stars for resisting rollovers.

Complete ratings for the 2007 models, as well as for previous years, can be found at www.safercar.gov.

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