Few will argue that safety is one of the top concerns among new-vehicle buyers in the U.S. these days, along with price, quality, and the sales and service experience. Acknowledging this, automakers have invested heavily into developing new technologies _ and perfecting existing ones _ to improve the safety of their vehicles. Many of these technologies have filtered down to even the least expensive vehicles in a manufacturer's product line, somewhat quieting the critics who argue that one must spend a forThetune to get a car with high safety marks.

In fact, a recent announcement by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS, www.iihs.org), a non-profit research organization funded by auto insurance companies, suggests that comprehensive safety can be had for a relatively moderate price. The Institute announced on Dec. 4, 2005 its Top Safety Picks 2006, a list of 2006 model-year vehicles that received either a Gold or Silver award based on their combined performance in the Institute's three safety tests _ frontal offset impact, side impact and rear impact.
The awards, in their first year, recognize the vehicles with the best designs for comprehensive safety. "Now that we're rating vehicles' front, side and rear crashworthiness, based on test performance, we decided to give consumers an overall assessment based on all three tests," Institute president Brian O'Neill explained in a statement.

The four categories of vehicles tested were Large Cars, Midsize Cars, Small Cars and Minivans. In the Large Car category, Gold awards went to the Ford Five Hundred/Mercury Montego (with optional side air bags). In Midsize Cars, the Saab 9-3 and Subaru Legacy took top honors. "The midsize group is the heart of the car market.so it's good news that consumers have a number of Top Safety Pick choices in this size group, from moderately priced to near luxury models," said O'Neill. The only award winner in the Small Cars category was the Honda Civic 4-door, earning a Gold award. Only the Minivan category had no winners, as none of the entries performed well enough in all three of the Institute's tests to qualify for an award.