Looks like the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has a new comprehensive safety rating system out. Top vehicles are rated Silver and Gold and the Gold rating requires excellent performance on front, side and a new rear/whiplash crash test.

The 2006 Honda Civic received a Gold rating and is in very elite company with that rating. Check it out:

http://www.iihs.org/news/2005/pr120405.html

Good info. It's impressive that the Civic was the only compact among 13 tested to earn any mention at all; at that, they won the gold award, not even just the silver. It looks like Honda's "Safety for Everyone" campaign is off to a good start.

Did IIHS test the Prius? I couldn't find any info on their site.

According to this page, the Prius has not yet been tested by IIHS:

http://www.crashtest.com/toyota_us/

I hope the Prius also gets a gold rating.

The general public needs to be reminded "bigger is not necessarily safer" - gas mizers can be safe too.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

nice too bad the prius base price doesn't come with safety

i got around 20 km a liter when i drove a civic 5 spd using advanced hypermiler techniques
and now I drive a salvage nwh20 prius that gets almost to 25 km/l with 192,000 km to date.

Like proud parents, it looks like we need to get a trophy case for all the HCH2 awards ! First the Motor Trend Car of the year and now this safety award.

Larry
'06 Magnetic Pearl HCH #7264