27 March 2011 - The 2012 Volvo S60 earns the Institute's Top Safety Pick award for good performance for front, side, rollover, and rear crash protection, plus standard electronic stability control (ESC).
The previous generation of the S60 earned good ratings in the Institute's front and rear evaluations, but for 2005-09 it was rated acceptable in the side impact test. The previous model wasn't evaluated for roof strength in rollover crashes. The new model improves to good in the side impact test, and earns a good rating in the roof strength test.
The roof of the S60 withstood a force equal to 4.95 times the car's weight. By comparison, the current federal standard is 1.5 times weight. Institute research demonstrates that occupants of vehicles with strong roofs are much less likely to sustain serious injuries in rollover crashes.
In addition to good crash test ratings, winners must have ESC, an important crash-avoidance feature, which is standard on the S60.
Other midsize luxury Top Picks include the Audi A4 sedan, Lincoln MKZ, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. One of the new technologies that comes with the new S60 is the “Pedestrian Detection Full Auto Brake” - system spots pedestrians in front of the car with cameras and radar and — if the driver doesn’t respond quickly enough — slams on the brakes.
Source: IIHS
