CRASH TESTS RATE SUV SAFETY.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Midsize sport-utility vehicles from Mercedes-Benz and Lexus performed the best in the latest SUV crash tests performed by an insurance industry group. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a U.S. non-profit organization funded by auto insurers. It works to reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes, and the rate of injuries and amount of property damage in the crashes that still occur. said Wednesday that it gave its ``best pick'' rating to the 1999 Mercedes-Benz M-class The Mercedes-Benz M-Class is a mid-size luxury SUV with light off-road capability, first offered in 1997, and built in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, USA. It marked a shift at Mercedes-Benz in becoming a global player; while it had plants outside Germany before, they merely built and Lexus RX The Lexus RX is a mid-size entry-level luxury crossover SUV produced by Toyota Motor Corporation. It is the world's first mid-size crossover SUV. In North America, Europe, Oceania, and parts of Asia, including Singapore as a 2003 introduction and Japan as a 2008 introduction, it is 300, based on its frontal offset crash test in which the vehicles were driven at 40 mph into a deformable barrier. In the latest test, six 1999 SUVs with new designs were rated. The worst performer was the Mitsubishi Montero mon·te·ro n. pl. mon·te·ros A hunter's cap with side flaps. [Spanish, hunter, from monte, mountain, from Latin m Sport, which was rated poor for a major collapse of the driver-passenger compartment. ``There's a huge difference between the best and worst performers,'' said Brian O'Neill, institute president. Other models tested were the popular Jeep Grand Cherokee The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a mid-size sport utility vehicle produced by the Jeep division of DaimlerChrysler. European Grand Cherokees are manufactured in Austria by Magna Steyr. Development The Grand Cherokee was a spinoff of the smaller Jeep Cherokee. , which was rated marginal; and the Dodge Durango and Land Rover Discovery The Discovery is a four wheel drive on-road and off-road vehicle from the British car maker Land Rover. There have been three generations of the vehicle, which is less expensive than the company's top Range Rover model. II, which were rated acceptable. The institute's tests are particularly demanding because just the driver's side of a vehicle strikes the barrier, forcing a relatively small portion of the vehicle to absorb the crash energy. The federal government's crash tests involve driving vehicles into a rigid barrier with the full width of the front end making contact. O'Neill said the Mercedes' frame held up particularly well, keeping the occupant compartment intact with little or no intrusion. By contrast, the instrument panel in the Montero Sport was pushed toward the driver dummy, reducing the space available for the safety belt and air bag to prevent injuries. In addition, intrusion into the foot well contributed to the likelihood of serious leg injuries in the Montero Sport, O'Neill said. Mitsubishi spokesman Kim Custer said the Montero Sport meets or exceeds federal safety standards. The government does not use a frontal offset crash test, but Custer said the institute's results showed that vital areas of the body - the head, neck and chest - were protected in the crash. The government has not yet tested the '99 Montero Sport. O'Neill said vehicle designs are being improved to provide stronger protection for the occupant compartment as a result of crash tests performed in the United States and other countries. ``The two best performers are among the newest designs in the vehicle group we tested,'' O'Neill noted. ``This likely had a lot to do with their good performances.'' |
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