These vehicles get slammed in crash test

BY TOM INCANTALUPO
tom.incantalupo@newsday.com

February 14, 2007 - Few federal crash test ratings released yesterday raise serious questions about the safety of a Buick sedan, the LaCrosse, which scored one out of a possible five stars in a side-impact test - the lowest of any 2007 model.

The single star, for the LaCrosse's driver's seat, indicates a 26 percent or greater chance of serious chest injury, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says. A five-star rating would indicate a chance of 5 percent or less.The agency also gave low ratings for side-impact protection for the rear seat of the just-redesigned 2007 Chrysler Sebring and the 2007 Honda Fit.

Most vehicles now score four or five stars in both frontal and side-impact categories.

The LaCrosse earned three stars from the federal agency for the side-impact protection of a rear-seat passenger.

But the car is deemed "marginal" in side impacts by the private Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which conducts more severe testing.

Introduced for 2005 but based structurally on preceding models, the Regal and Century, the LaCrosse has curtain-type air bags but lacks thorax-protecting side-impact air bags, which many cars have, usually mounted in doors or seatbacks.

General Motors spokesman Alan Adler said the LaCrosse earned the low rating because a piece of interior trim contacted a crash test dummy during the test. As a result of the test, beginning in January GM added extra padding to the piece on the assembly line. "We have requested a retest with the production change," Adler said.

Both the federal agency and the institute say the LaCrosse and Sebring perform well in frontal impacts.

The Sebring also gets five stars for protecting front seaters in side impacts. But a rear-seat passenger in the Sebring, who is protected by a curtain air bag but not a thorax bag, runs an 11 percent to 20 percent chance of serious chest injury in a side crash, the federal agency said.

The Fit also earned five stars in frontal and driver side impact protection, but, like the Sebring, the Fit earned only three stars for its protection of rear-seat passengers. Like the Sebring, the Fit has seat-mounted thorax air bags for the driver and front passenger but only the curtain for rear seaters.

Honda spokesman Chris Naughton noted that the Insurance Institute rated the Fit "good" in side impact protection. "The Fit provides very good safety performance," he said.