Lexus GS Earns "Good" Rating for Side Impact

The Lexus GS, equipped with standard side curtain airbags, earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's top rating of good in a crash test that simulates a side impact from an SUV or pickup truck at 31 mph.

Ratings for the Lexus in the Institute's frontal offset and rear tests were released earlier. This car earned a good rating in the frontal test but is rated marginal for its seat/head restraint design for protection in rear impacts.

"The [Lexus] GS is one of three large luxury cars we've tested that earns the top rating for both front and side crash protection," said Institute president Adrian Lund. "But the GS isn't a 'Top Safety Pick' because of its marginal rating in the rear test. Only the Audi A6 earns that designation among the large luxury cars that we [IIHS] have evaluated."

Low injury measures in side impact test
Beginning with 2006 GS models manufactured after August 2005, changes were made to the front seat-mounted torso airbags to ensure better protection of the abdomen in a side impact crash. In the Institute's test, injury measures recorded on crash test dummies in the driver seat and rear passenger seat were low in every category.

"The heads of both dummies were protected from being hit by any hard structures, including the intruding test barrier," Lund said. "Side airbags, especially those designed to protect the head, are key in reducing risks to people in side impacts. The Institute's test represents a crash in which the striking vehicle has a tall front end like a pickup or SUV, so head protection is critical."

Toyota requested the side test of the GS earlier than the Institute's normal test schedule.

"More manufacturers are requesting tests when they have new designs they expect to perform well," Lund said. "We encourage this because it means the test results will be released earlier, as consumers are beginning to shop for new models. When we do conduct tests early, the automakers provide reimbursement
for the cost of the vehicles."

Side impact tests of other large luxury car models are planned for later this year.

How the side impact test is conducted
A vehicle's overall side evaluation is based on performance in a crash test in which the side of the vehicle is struck by a moving barrier representing the front end of a pickup or SUV. Ratings reflect injury measures recorded on two instrumented SID-IIs dummies, assessment of head protection countermeasures, and the vehicle's structural performance during the impact.

Injury measures obtained from the two dummies, one in the driver seat and the other in the rear seat behind the driver, are used to determine the likelihood that a driver and/or passenger in a real-world crash would have sustained serious injury to various body regions. The movements and contacts of the dummies' heads during the crash also are evaluated. Structural performance is based on measurements indicating the amount of B-pillar intrusion into the occupant compartment.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a nonprofit research and communications organization funded by auto insurers. For over 30 years the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been a leader in finding out what works and doesn't work to prevent motor vehicle crashes in the first place and reduce injuries in the crashes that still occur. The Institute's research focuses on countermeasures aimed at all three factors in motor vehicle crashes (human, vehicular, and environmental) and on interventions that can occur before, during, and after crashes to reduce losses.

(Source: Insurance Institute of Highway Safety)