New Lexus car gets safety award

US based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently awarded its highest safety award – Top Safety Pick to the new Lexus 2011 hybrid CT 200h. IIHS, an independent not-for-profit research and communication body, awards the Top Pick award to vehicles that are fitted with electronic stability control and achieve a rating of ‘good’ in their tests for front, side, rear and rollover collisions. The CT 200h’s body is strong and has impact resistant steel components that help it to absorb and dissipate energy in case of a crash. The car has an eight airbag Supplemental Restraint System: dual-stage airbags in the front, side curtain airbags, knee airbags for the driver and front passenger, and front side airbags which protect the front and rear passengers in certain severe front and side crashes. The front passenger is shielded from the hard impact of the airbag deployment due to the twin-chamber air-bag in the front. Passengers are further protected from severe injury during frontal collisions due to the pretensioners and force limiters in the front seatbelts. The Whiplash Injury Lessening (WIL) design of the front seats offers protection to the front passengers in rear impact collisions. The seat frames and head restraints are designed to yield to the force of the impact in a controlled manner, and lessen the whiplash-inducing movement between the passenger’s head and torso.