Pick up most car enthusiast magazines and you won’t find much talk about auto safety. Instead, drivers are more enchanted by how much horsepower is under the hood, how their favorite ride will handle in corners, and how fast it can go 0-60. Performance has always been important and intoxicating, and historically safety has taken a back seat. While the first seat belt patent was filed in 1885 (#312,085), it wasn’t until 1955 that the first seat belts arrived as standard equipment.
But now, with more drivers on our increasingly busy highways, freeways, and toll roads, safety has become a critical component on any list of automobile features. Kia is committed to making safe cars, and believes safety should be among the primary considerations when choosing a vehicle. That’s why Kia makes side curtain airbags, equipment that is often just an option with other carmakers, standard on every Kia vehicle. This feature improves crash test safety ratings, but more importantly helps to protect you and your passengers.
When it comes to crash testing, the U.S. Government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the scorekeeper. The organization began in the 1960s, when public awareness of auto safety was catapulted to the forefront by auto safety advocates. In 1964 front belts finally became mandatory, yet the first crash tests still weren't conducted by the NHTSA until 1978. Nowadays, these all-important crash tests are known as the New Car Assessment Program, or NCAP, but are most often referred to as the “government five-star ratings.” These ratings provide the government’s assessment of the performance of a vehicle in frontal and side crashes.
And when you’re looking for safe vehicles, look no further than Kia. Kia offers you seven models that have earned the maximum five-star crash rating from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in frontal driver and passenger crash tests: the Sedona minivan, the Optima and Spectra sedan and Spectra 5 wagon, two SUVs, the Sorento and Sportage, and the Rondo crossover.
In addition to its five stars from the government, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety called the Sedona “the best minivan we’ve tested.” The Sedona also earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick award for its performance in frontal, side and rear impact crash tests—the first minivan ever to earn the award two years in a row.
So the next time you’re shopping for a new vehicle, be sure to check out its NCAP rating at www.SaferCar.gov.
In keeping with Kia’s commitment to safety, look for more practical automotive tips and information in upcoming issues of Open Road. For more on the safety features of individual Kia models, visit Kia.com. Equipment and ratings are based on 2007 model year vehicles. For more about general car safety, and complete government crash test ratings, check out www.SaferCar.gov or www.nhtsa.dot.gov. For more information on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, see www.iihs.org.
