Two of the USA’s most respected safety institutes have published new surveys on the safety of passenger cars. Saab’s 9000 and 900 models were given top ratings in both of the surveys, consolidating their reputation as two of the safest cars on the road.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) survey shows that the Saab 9000 had the safest drivers area of all the 153 car models surveyed from 1990 to 1994 regardless of size.
The IIHS survey is constructed by analyzing the statistics on the number of driver facilities per model. Setting an average value of 100 for each model corresponding to two facilities for every 10,000 cars registered. There is a lower rating but a safer car.
The Saab 9000 received a rating of 25, four times lower than the average and well below the Lexus LS (31), the Mercedes E Class (45), the Volvo 940/960 and the BMW 5 Series. This means that you are almost 50% less likely to have a fatal accident driving a Saab 9000 than driving most of the 153 models in the IIHS survey.
Closely following the release of the IIHS survey, the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) which analyzed the personal injury and cost of repair statistics of different makes of cars to come up with a measure to indicates the personal injury and financial costs attached to each model.
Based on an averaged value system with 100 being the bench mark, the Saab 900 received a rating of 56, 44% lower than the average car in this size class. As the safest car in its class the Saab 900 was placed ahead of the Buick Regal (62), the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (65) and the Volvo 850 (66).
Commenting on the results the HLDI reports stated: “The difference between the best and worst car in the same class is striking when it comes to the personal injury results. The Saab has the best injury result for example, and is three times safer than the worst car in its class”.