Chances are good that if an adjuster has recently handled an auto claim involving the 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe, the exterior of the vehicle was the only thing harmed.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the midsize SUV has earned the coveted Top Safety Pick designation, held only by 20 other cars, SUVs, and minivans. It earned the classification by rating “good” for front, side, and rear crash protection, and it also comes equipped with electronic stability control, a feature that will soon be mandatory in all automobiles within the next five years.

“Criteria to win are tough because they're intended to drive continued safety improvements such as high crash test ratings and rapid addition of electronic stability control, which is standard equipment on the Santa Fe,” says Institute President Adrian Lund, in a release. The Santa Fe also is equipped with side airbags as standard equipment.

According to the Institute, frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of 40 mph frontal offset crash tests. Each vehicle's overall evaluation is based on measurements of intrusion into the occupant compartment, injury measures recorded on a Hybrid III dummy in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.

Side evaluations are based on performance in a crash test in which the side of a vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 31 mph. The barrier represents 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 back seat behind the driver, are used to determine the likelihood that a driver and/or passenger in a similar real-world crash would sustain serious injury to various parts of the body. The movements and contacts of the dummies' heads during the test also are evaluated. Structural performance is based on measurements indicating the amount of B-pillar intrusion into the occupant compartment.

Rear crash protection is rated according to a two-step procedure. Starting points for the ratings are measurements of head restraint geometry — the height of a restraint and its horizontal distance behind the back of the head of an average-size man. Seat/head restraints with good or acceptable geometry are tested dynamically using a dummy that measures forces on the neck.

Interested in more auto-claim news and in-depth articles? Head over to Claims' auto-claim channel for more information.

Special Reports /

Popular SUV Earns Top Honors

Related Stories

Recommended For You