The Dodge Neon, Ford Focus and Volkswagen New Beetle are among the small cars that got the lowest safety rating in new side-impact crash tests performed by the US insurance industry.
Eleven of the 13 cars tested earned a "poor," the lowest of four ratings, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said on Sunday.
The Chevrolet Cobalt and the Toyota Corolla earned the second-highest rating of "acceptable," but only when they were tested with their optional side air bags. They earned "poor" ratings without the air bags.
Other models
Other vehicles that earned a "poor" rating were the Hyundai Elantra, Kia Spectra, Mazda 3, Mitsubishi Lancer, Nissan Sentra, Saturn Ion, Suzuki Forenza and Suzuki Aerio.
The institute's test simulates a severe crash. A barrier designed to resemble the front of a pickup or sport utility vehicle hits the side of the vehicle at 50kph. A "poor" rating means a high chance of serious injury in a similar crash.
Four of the vehicles tested -- the Elantra, New Beetle, Forenza and Spectra -- have standard, head-protecting side air bags. But the institute's chief operating officer, Adrian Lund, said the cars had poor structure that failed to prevent injuries to the torso and pelvis.
Several of the vehicles offer optional side air bags, but the institute will only test those vehicles without side air bags unless the manufacturer provides a second vehicle with the option installed.
Toyota Motor Co provided the Corolla with side air bags and General Motors Corp provided the Cobalt and Saturn Ion. But even when it was tested with its optional side air bags, the Ion got a "poor" rating because the institute said it didn't adequately protect the driver's lower body.
GM said in a statement that the Cobalt and Ion meet or exceed all federal vehicle safety standards and got higher ratings in the institute's frontal crash tests.
Neon under fire
The institute was most critical of the Neon, saying the car performed so poorly that the driver likely wouldn't have survived the crash. DaimlerChrysler AG defended the Neon, saying it meets federal safety standards and its performance is similar to other small cars.
"No single test can determine a vehicle's overall safety performance or how the vehicle will perform in a specific crash," DaimlerChrysler said in a statement.
Lund said the ratings were similar to frontal crash test ratings for small cars in 1997. Since then, manufacturers have redesigned those cars and now most get the highest safety rating in frontal crash tests.
"As manufacturers redesign their vehicles, we expect that small cars will get better in the side-impact test too," Lund said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique