2012 Fiat 500 Named Top Safety Pick

fiat 500 acquired the last bit of paper work it needed to fully begins its career in America.

The 2012 Fiat 500 has been named a “Top Safety Pick” for 2011 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The new Fiat 500 joins eight Chrysler Group models that are Top Safety Picks by the IIHS for 2011.

The lovely little Fiat is already a five-star car in Europe, as confirmed by NCAP. The IIHS test is basically the same as NCAP test, but they rate the cars with ratings like ‘Good’ for best performance in front, side, rear, and rollover impact. The Fiat obviously passed them all with flying colors.

Fiat press release:

The IIHS recognizes vehicles that demonstrate “good” performance in front, side, rollover and rear crash test evaluations performed at its Vehicle Research Center.

Vehicles must also have electronic stability control, a standard feature on all Fiat 500 models.

Introduced earlier this year, the Fiat 500 has seven standard airbags for enhanced passenger protection. These include driver and front passenger advanced multi-stage air bags, driver’s knee air bag, full-length side-curtain air bags and standard seat-mounted side pelvic-thorax air bags for enhanced passenger protection. Reactive head restraints that deploy in the event of a rear collision to minimize the space between the driver and passenger’s head and the front head restraints also are standard. High strength steel door beams offer additional protection in the event of a side impact.