Wednesday, November 18, 2009


Four Chrysler vehicles named as IIHS top safety picks

Posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 10:40 AM EST.

One of the nation’s leading auto safety group’s has named four Chrysler Group LLC vehicles among its top safety picks for 2010.

The 2010 Dodge Journey, 2010 Chrysler Sebring (when equipped with available Electronic Stability Control [ESC]), 2010 Dodge Avenger (when equipped with available ESC) and 2010 Jeep® Patriot (with available seat-mounted air bags) were named top safety picks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The Sebring, Avenger and Journey also were awarded IIHS top safety picks for both the 2009 and 2010 model years. The 2010 Patriot joins the trio in receiving the highest possible rating from the nonprofit research organization.
For the 2010 model year, Chrysler Group products comprised almost 15 percent of the total vehicles awarded top safety pick status by the IIHS to automakers. The award recognizes automobiles with ESC that perform well in the safety group’s front-impact, side-impact, rear-impact and new for 2010, roof-strength evaluations.

“With the addition of the Jeep Patriot, the Chrysler Group has received four top safety picks in the 2010 model year—a great accomplishment for our company,” Scott Kunselman, Senior Vice President—Engineering, said. “IIHS’ recognition of our products underscores the Chrysler Group’s engineering capability and leadership in occupant protection.”

The 2010 Patriot, Sebring, Avenger and Journey use a two-fold approach to safety—passive features combined with accident-avoidance features. Available safety and security features on all four vehicles include ESC with traction control, Brake Assist and anti-lock braking system (ABS), driver and front-passenger active head restraints, front seat-mounted side air bags and advanced multi-stage front air bags.

Chrysler showed the most improvement of any automaker for 2010,” IIHS President Adrian Lund said. “These Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge models are part of an elite group that afford the best overall crash protection and have electronic stability control, which can help keep drivers out of crashes altogether.”

The Chrysler Group’s four top safety picks all feature the company’s new active head restraint system for front-seat occupants. This new system aids the head restraints ability to minimize neck injuries caused by rear-impact accidents. In the event of a rear impact, the head restraints deploy to remove the space between the occupants head and the restraint to help minimize whiplash-type injuries.

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