Roof Strength Rating Is Established

Insurance Institute for Highways Safety has established new ratings for vehicles. Now not only standard parts like front, rear and sides will be checked for strength, but roof as well. According to their opinion the roof has to be strong to protect passengers in rollover crashes, because they might be injured by roof itself if it bends or cracks. It will also be handy for those who take seat belts for granted and then die in auto accidents.

Several autos were tried for the rating. The Institute experts were absolutely impressed by Volkswagen Tiguan saying that it has “the strongest rated roof”. Three others received “good” marks: Subaru Forester, Honda Element and Jeep Patriot.

Chevrolet Equinox, Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue and Mitsubishi Outlander were rated “acceptable”. Honda CR-V and Ford Escape were not good at all and got “marginal”. However, the worst roof belongs to Kia Sportage.

The manufacturers were not ready for the rating and some of them might have performed better if the roof strength was checked before. They have time to think and readjust some designs, but the time roof strength rating will become a requirement for all vehicles in 2010.