In the past we haven't seen so many vehicles in a group get good ratings, with none rated poor, ... Vehicle designs are getting better, as this group of SUVs demonstrates.

In front end crashes, well-designed vehicles have front ends that crumple to absorb the energy and strong occupant compartments that resist intrusion. This allows restrained occupants to be decelerated without injury. In contrast, there is virtually no crush space on the sides of vehicles. So in serious side crashes some intrusion is inevitable but it should be minimized.

The midsize group is the heart of the car market. About 40 percent of new cars sold every year are midsize, so it's good news that consumers have a number of Top Safety Pick choices in this size group from moderately priced to near luxury models.

The new awards mean consumers can compare cars' ratings more quickly and easily. And when we test new car designs as they are introduced next year, it's possible that some additional models will be added to the 2006 Top Safety Picks.

The occupant compartment, or safety cage, of the Legacy held together extremely well, and most injury measures recorded on the crash test dummy were low,

This is good news because it means vehicles are getting safer,

Our sites are cleaner than farm land when they're completed, ... We don't cut corners.

The solutions to the problem are relatively simple. We can design seats and head restraints that are not expensive, that can eliminate a lot of these injuries.

What our tests have revealed are that in some crash circumstances the airbag sensors are not detecting the crash severity early enough, so we're getting airbags firing late, ... That means you will not get the most effective protection you should from the belts and the airbags.

Toyota was searching for perfection and wanted the highest rating in every individual category, not just a good overall evaluation, so the company made a minor change in the wiring to some of the LS 430's airbag sensors and asked for another test.