Insurance Institute Releases New Crash Test Results
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: And we turn our attention now to automobile safety. There are some new crash test results out this morning, and the information could affect you. Our Kathleen Koch is at the Insurance Institute's Vehicle Research Center in Greene County, Virginia. She joins us with the latest. Kathleen, what's up? Are we safe? What are we driving these days?</s>KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're safe. We're doing, actually, very well with this series of crash tests. The news is not always as good as it is today. Basically, what they do here is they smash and crash all make and model of vehicles, been doing that here for nine years, to see how safe they are, and then to tell consumers about it. Let's look at our first crash test. The very first vehicle that they looked at is the Subaru Impreza, and what they found is that it was very impressive. Basically, what you are seeing is an off-set front end crash test, where 40 percent of the vehicle's front end hits a deformable barrier at about 40 miles per hour. This is different from what the federal government does when it hits with the full front end of these vehicles. Now, Adrian Lund, the chief operating officer with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is here to tell us about why did this vehicle rate so well. Why is it your the best pick?</s>ADRIAN LUND, COO, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: Well, Kathleen, what we see here is that the occupant compartment has been retained very well. There is very little intrusion. There is plenty of room for the occupant restraints to protect the occupant. That's what we are looking for in an off-set crash.</s>KOCH: Now, another test you did was on a pickup that hadn't fared so well in the past. Let's take a look at that videotape. That is the Dodge Ram pickup, and it has been redesigned over past years. In past years, in 1998, '99, 2000, and 2001, this very same pickup was rated "poor." Now, the ratings that you give range from "poor" all the way up to "good." Why did this vehicle make such a huge jump from the worst to the best?</s>LUND: Well, what we see here is that Daimler-Chrysler did their homework in redesigning this vehicle. They tried to make it retain, again, the occupant compartment, reduce the intrusion, and it has done that. There is still a little more intrusion than we would like to see, but this occupant compartment is retained much better -- it's shape, than the previous model. So it's a -- the occupant is just more likely to survive an off-set crash in this case.</s>KOCH: Now, what are implications? You are talking about intrusion, this cracking and breaking that we see down here. What can that mean if you are driving this?</s>LUND: Well, if you are driving this and you are in a crash, then when you start seeing intrusion, you may -- particularly in the floorboard, you are talking about maybe a little more risk of leg injuries, maybe an ankle. Could as be minor as a sprain, but it could be a broken foot or something like that. So, as the intrusion goes, and as it gets worse, then we see more and more serious injuries.</s>KOCH: Adrian Lund with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, thanks a lot. And Carol, we'll be back in coming hours throughout the day to talk about some of the other tests. They tested two other small vehicles and a minivan that didn't rate as well as some of the others, so we'll be back, so stay tuned.</s>LIN: Well, now you got me curious. Kathleen, is bigger better then, does it seem?</s>KOCH: Not necessarily. Again, our good performers, we have three excellent performers here, which were all small cars, and we are going to, like I said, coming up, take a look at a van that is one of the larger vehicles and didn't do quite so well. So size isn't everything, though.</s>LIN: Quick question here too, a web address for more information on the crash tests, in case we need to go to the Internet?</s>KOCH: Don't have that, but we'll have that for you in the next live shot.</s>LIN: Good deal. Thanks Kathleen. We'll see you in a bit. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com