Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has recently released its list of Top Safety Pick awardees for 2008. A total of seven Honda and Acura models earned the title, including the all-new 2008 Honda Accord.
The Top Safety Pick award recognizes vehicles that perform best in providing protection to passengers in the front, side and rear crash test evaluations of the IIHS. The test only considers the vehicles equipped with electronic stability control (named as Vehicle Stability Assist on Honda and Acura vehicles) and head protection airbags.
The award was granted to 2008 Accord, CR-V, Element, Odyssey and Pilot, under Honda Division. For the Acura Division, on the other hand, the award was given to 2008 MDX and RDX, which come with premium and other genuine parts. These Honda and Acura vehicles gained most of the industry's Top Safety Pick awards, accounting vehicles that have both the electronic stability control and the head protection airbags as standard equipment.
All the 2008 model year vehicles from Honda and Acura that achieved the Top Safety Pick award is estimated to cover about two-thirds of the company's sales volume. Based on industry sales projections, it has exceeded 1 million vehicles, more than any other automaker.
According to Dick Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., "Honda has consistently challenged itself to pursue vehicle safety as part of its core business strategy... American Honda will put more Top Safety Pick-rated vehicles on the road next year than any other automaker."
Honda is in goal to provide a high level of occupant protection as well as pedestrian injury mitigation through all of its cars and trucks, with the use of comprehensive and evolving approach to vehicle safety. It is an effort introduced in 2003, honoring the company's "Safety for Everyone" initiative. This process has provided benefits to all new Honda and Acura vehicles, regardless of size and price. The company has also considered increasing compatibility with other types of vehicles in a frontal collision.
Among Honda models awarded, 2008 Honda Accord stood out more than any other Top Safety Pick vehicles. The vehicle has a projected annual sales volume of about 400,000 units.
Each Accord comes with newly-designed side-curtain airbags and dual-chamber, front-side airbags with a passenger-side Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS). The model is also equipped with active front seat head restraints designed to help reduce the severity of neck injury in a rear collision.
The new Accord is found to be highly efficient in absorbing the energy of a frontal crash, thanks to the Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure provided in the front of the vehicle. The technology could even help minimize the risk of under-ride or over-ride situations that may occur during head-on or offset-frontal impacts with a larger or smaller vehicle.
The 2008 Accord has been sustained with several standard features, including the Vehicle Stability Assist and an Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) with brake assist. The new Accord also comes with dual-stage, dual-threshold front airbags, front seatbelts with automatic-tensioning systems and load limiters, and a pedestrian injury mitigation design in the front of the vehicle. There are also Driver and front passenger seatbelt reminders and daytime running lights, among standard equipments.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the 2008 Accord Sedan a five-star frontal crash safety rating for both the driver and front passenger.
Honda Motor Corp. has been operating two of the world's most sophisticated crash test laboratories in the development of improved safety designs and technologies. For the past years, the company has been active in conducting tests to optimize the efficiency of their vehicles in providing safety to drivers and passengers.
