Santa Fe Tops US Crash Safety Test

The Hyundai Santa Fe SUV has topped the influential crash test survey carried out by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the United States.

In crash tests the Santa Fe outperformed all its rivals including the Jeep Wrangler and Cherokee, the Toyota RAV 4, the Honda CRV and the Ford Escape. Only the Subaru Forrester came close to the Santa Fe performance, with four compared to Hyundai’s five good measurement ratings.

In the 40 miles per hour (62kph) front offset collision test, the Santa Fe earned an overall good rating with top marks for its structural safety cage, head restraints, other restraints and injury measurements to occupants’ chest and legs.

Santa Fe is good

IIHS President Brian O’Neill said: “The Hyundai Santa Fe held up very well in the 40 mph crash test. There wasn’t much intrusion into the occupant compartment so the space around the driver dummy was maintained well. As it is the crashworthiness of the Santa Fe is good”.

The ratings from the offset crash test depend on how well the safety cage protects the occupants, the risk of injury measured for an average sized male and how well the restraint system controls occupant movement.

The performance echoes Hyundai Motor Company’s own crash test programme that predicted a good performance for Santa Fe in official tests. Hyundai conducts extensive computer-simulation and actual crash tests on all its vehicles before they go on sale.

The full results of the crash test can be viewed at the IIHS’s web-site at www.hwysafety.org

© Scoop Media