IIHS Recognizes Ford Safety Among This Year’s Top Picks
The Ford Motor Company recently received some good news that they’re certain to brag about a lot in the coming months. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a private group funded by the nation’s insurance companies, has named several Ford models as top safety picks for the year.
Leading the way are the Ford Flex and Fusion, Lincoln MKS, and the Mercury Milan, beating out Honda 
for the most “Top Safety Picks” amongst 2009 models. In addition, the IIHS has recognized Ford as having more 5-star government crash test ratings than any other automaker.
Class Leading New Vehicle Safety
“Leading the industry in ‘Top Safety Picks’ is great news, because IIHS tests are some of the most demanding conducted outside of our own laboratories, and customers are increasingly relying on them when choosing a new vehicle,” said Susan Cischke, Ford’s group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering.
The IIHS doesn’t dispense these awards freely, requiring that vehicles earn the top “good” ratings in the institutes’ high-speed front and side crash tests, and a rear crash test simulation that evaluates seat and head restraints. Since 2007, the IIHS has added a new requirement one that requires vehicles to offer electronic stability control.
“Flex and MKS are built on a platform that has a tremendous safety heritage – one that it shares with the 2009 Ford Taurus, rated America’s safest full-size car,” said Steve Kozak, Ford’s chief engineer for safety systems. “And Fusion and Milan prove that a high level of safety can come in a midsize package.”
Safety Packed Features
In addition to electronic stability control and anti-lock brakes, standard safety features on Flex, MKS, Fusion and Milan include:
Six Standard Air Bags and Ford’s Personal Safety System®: Safety features include six air bags (dual-stage driver and front-passenger air bags, thorax side air bags for front-seat occupants and side-impact air curtains), safety belt pretensioners, seat weight-sensing system for the front passenger seat and crash-severity sensing.
Ford’s BeltMinder®, a safety belt reminder technology for the driver and front passenger that takes over after the initial safety belt reminder stops chiming.
LATCH: The Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren system provides convenient mounting points for compatible child seats.
Tire Pressure Monitoring System: This system warns a driver if one or more tires are underinflated. An active pressure sensor with a radio transmitter is mounted inside each tire. A receiver in the vehicle monitors each transmitter, and if tire pressure is not within specific limits, it will activate a visual warning light.
Other key safety features on select models include:
Adaptive Collapsible Steering Column – In an impact, the column will collapse, dependent on the weight and belted status of the driver.
Safety Canopy® – Ford’s exclusive side impact protection system features side curtain air bags that help protect front and rear outboard passengers in both rollovers and side impact crashes.
“Safety is a top purchase consideration, second only to fuel efficiency, so the top safety ratings and competitive fuel economy of Flex, MKS, Fusion and Milan are a winning combination,” said Michael Crowley, North America car and crossover marketing manager, Ford Motor Company.
Rare Good News For Ford
The IIHS report is good news for Ford in a year when the automaker continues to experience record losses and where domestic auto sales are down by 17% for the year. When the market does recover, Ford will be able to tout the many safety features found across its model line, features which are a proven hit with savvy and safety smart shoppers.
(Source: Ford Motor Company)
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