4 Star Government Safety Ratings- Will it impact sales?

Lol. On the other hand, rounding may have shaved a few tenths in order to get as low as 64.9 in the first place.

 

What you say is certainly possible, although I guess it could also have gone the other way. Looks like what they really mean is < 64.5 not < 65. (Hope they'll clarify this in the future.)

Seems like they have a very good approach to fatality (EDITED) risk determination. Glad there are a number of different groups doing crash assessments - helps drivers get a better idea of what's going on.

 

Yes I confirmed that with the author. 64.5 is the true cutoff when rounding is considered. That's a little confusing when you look at the individual SCORE pages, because they show tenths. If you look at the lists, they only show whole numbers, so you wouldn't know the difference. One more 5-star rating and the Prius would have made the cut, so I blame Toyota and not IFL ;-)

 

I sure hope the Prius comes out better than the Camry in the 2011 ratings. The Sienna didn't do as well as I would have expected, either. Any idea when the 2011 Prius results will be released?

 

Who's "we want to know"?

 

Folks are aware that there's a new procedure in place for this year? Right?

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2010/10/new-nhtsa-safety-ratings-released.html

That said, where is the 2010 Prius? Camry got a 3...does that make folks feel better?

If the Prius did get a 4 in the frontal crash test, they are in good company with: Audi A4, BMW 5-series, Hyundi Sonata, Ford Taurus, Infiniti M37 and M56, etc, etc..mainly the BIG SUV's are reserved for 5's.

So calm down.

 

It did.

 

We have some commentary on the new ratings, too.

NHTSA’s New 2011 Vehicle Crash Test Results – What’s New, What’s Improved & Why It Matters

 

It would appear that only the very large SUVs got 5's...so folks need to relax a bit on this. Geez.

Given the size of the Prius, I think a 4 is pretty remarkable, and very much in line with even the largest of sedans... http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2010/10/new-nhtsa-safety-ratings-released.html

Ya wanna a 5, get a boat...ummm, I mean SUV.

 

I'm not seeing the 2011 Prius results. That's why I asked if the Prius Team had any information.

Sonata got a 5 overall. So did the 5-series sedan. That's it so far. A4, Malibu, Fiesta, Taurus and Legacy did quite well, too. Not one got a 3-star rating in any individual test. Hardly large SUVs.

Nothing wrong with talking about the results since they are in the news today. It will be interesting when the next set of results come in. The Highlander and Prius were listed as models to be tested for 2011, so hopefully they will appear within a few months.

Design is far more important than weight in crash testing. Any class of car can get 5-star results, as was the case with the previous ratings. I would just expect that all-new models would do quite well, since the parameters of the new test have been known for years. The new Sienna is one I would have expected to get an overall 5-star rating, and certainly not a 3-star result in the updated frontal crash test.

 

I'm talking frontal collision, and yes, the BMW 5-series got a 4, just as the Prius.

 

I'm still not seeing the Prius. Are you looking at the 2011 results? If so, can you link it?

 

Am I the only one that just buys a car because I like it? No matter how bad the ratings, cars still have to pass certain crash tests to be road worthy.

I drove around in a Fiero and never had a feeling of unsafe.

 

Sure, everyone has their own reason. Safety wasn't a concern of mine until I had kids. It's like everything else. For some, basic transportation in the form of a 15mpg GM sedan from the 1980s is adequate, others want to go beyond the minimum of what is necessary to get you from here to there and buy something that gets over 50mpg.

 

I'm afraid our 4 star rating may have less stars under the newest system that is to be implemented, but that is a factor of changing the rating criteria. The Prius is very safe for its size. We must remember that size is a very important factor when predicting the results of a collision between a large vehicle and a small one. In my line of work I have seen several Pruis vehicles in collisions. They do very well for their size depending on speeds involved and the mass of the other vehicles. Should we be unfortunate enough to have a serious accident with a large SUV or a truck, I think we must realize that we are going to come out on the short end of the stick. Size and speed make a great difference. It is a mitigated risk that anyone who drives a smaller vehicle takes. We have an extremely wide range of vehicle sizes on our highways. Some day, in the far off future, safety specialists will be amazed that passenger cars once shared the same highways with large freight hauling vehicles which out-weighed them by factors of 10 and more. I drive a Prius knowing that it is probably as safe as it can be for a vehicle of its size. There are many smaller cars on the road.

 

Sorry, I didn't give the last piece of s... on safety when I ordered my prius.
The whole crappy safety-features in modern cars are paid by whom?
What would my prius cost without all this rubbish.
Wouldn't it make more sence to drive more carefully?

VSC+, ESP, 9 airbags.... who needs that?!

The only sence making features are ABS, seatbelts, and side impact bars.

 

Sure, if you always drive safely that would mitigate some of the need for crash protection features. The question is if you actually do drive safely all of the time. Everyone thinks they are an expert driver, yet there are tons of avoidable crashes every day. Plus, there's the other part, which is that the other guy isn't driving safely. No matter how pro you are when it comes to driving, you can't always avoid the idiot who has had a few beers, is texting and not watching the road or just blows a stop sign for no apparent reason.

You know, if we all drove 30 mph and there were no large vehicles on the road, the amount of energy in crashes would be drastically reduced and there would be very few fatalities, even with cars that lacked modern safety features. The problem is getting everyone to buy a Ford Fiesta and drive it like my mom.

 

I don't need ABS, but most drivers do.

 

There are things ABS can do that even the most skilled driver can not. For instance ABS can brake each wheel independently, something that is impossible with one brake pedal. Any situation where the wheels one one side of the car are on a significantly different surface than the other side will give ABS a major advantage over any driver in a non ABS car.

 

I like the idea of driving safely AND having a well designed car. And good tires. And no distractions from a tele. And good brakes. And skid control. And airbags.

But then, I only have one life, and I prefer not to live it a cripple because I wanted to save some money or make it to my destination a couple of minutes earlier.

Each to their own, just leave me out of your bargains.