priggly

http://www.informedforlife.org/CRSriskorder.pdf

The TL is #4 on the list while the RL is #1! Now, that IS impressive.

Check out also the detailed explanation (it puts it all in perspective) of why 5 Star crash safety ratings are not good enough:

http://www.informedforlife.org/why.htm

Dumont

Thanks, very interesting, I am going to have to take a copy of that to my insurance broker and ask for a big discount .

I wonder why the BMW sedans have insufficient data? The 5 series isn't new.

Dumont

tzakiel

FS: 2 door honda insight.......

JPTL-S

Nice to see 7 of Honda's products in the top 20

vtecracer

Wow. I didn't realize Toyota was so poor when it comes to safety. They have a lot of models that are "above average risk". I'm totally surprised to see the Camry on the above average risk list. Scary thought.

neuronbob

We've seen pix of some pretty hairy crashes on this site from which the driver was minimally injured. This different rating is simply more proof of what we already know about the car.

ilitig8

I always think the term safe when associated with these types of "studies" often leave out the most important "51%" of the safety equation, the passive safety side. It is far preferable to avoid an accident. As much as I would like to say otherwise passive safety on most Honda products is below par in their given category, braking is a perfect example.

I do think this study has gone farther in taking more variables into the equation it still leaves the fact that many (all) manufacturers tend to engineer with the tests in mind. That said I do still have a lot of faith in the several manufacturers (the ones I know are all from Europe) that have accident response teams that have been know to beat police and medical to the site.

In the end the safe paradigm would probably be the 3 ton AWD car with a CoG about 2 inches off the road, 20 or so air bags, 0-60 times below 4 sec, 70-0 in about 120 ft, pre-collision system, traction control, stability control, yaw control, a 10 point roll cage and a F1 safe survival cell, along with a further alphabet soup of safety systems. Safe cars are out there, we just can't and won't pay for them, for one reason or another.

elenaran

If anybody does actually get their insurance premiums lowered due to this article, please let the rest of us know.

priggly

How exactly is braking deficient in the TL, either in an absolute sense or compared to other cars? For that matter, how is braking deficient "on most Honda products?" (Incidentally, braking is an ACTIVE safety component, not passive.)

In the recent C&D comparison test in their October 2005 issue, the TL decelerated from 70-0 in 170 ft. The test average was 175 ft. The BMW 330i stopped in a mere 1 foot less at 169 ft. while the Lexus IS 350 (best in test for braking) stopped in a mere 3 feet less at 167 ft. The Audi A4 3.2 Quattro (yeah, "from Europe," no less) took 175 ft.

In this particular safety study, which is easily the best I have seen so far, there are nine (9) Honda products in the top 32 with the lowest combined risk scores.

Why bother to talk about a car that doesn't exist?

The TL does exist. So does the RL. They're here. Now.

Of course, if you want to be 100% safe, don't travel in cars at all. Or anything else. Stay home. And hope your roof doesn't fall on you.