Archive for the ‘Safety’ Category

The coveted Top Safety Pick designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) used to be quite exclusive—and a way for safety-conscious shoppers to narrow down their possibilities to a few top-rated vehicles in a segment. But since 2007, the number of Top Safety Picks has roughly doubled each year, going from just 23 vehicles then to 94 models—a huge portion of the new-car market—for 2009.

That’s slated to change beginning with 2010, as the IIHS requires that vehicles be rated ‘good’ in its new roof strength test in order to be named a Top Safety Pick.

The result—at least so far for 2010—is that the Institute’s 94...

To put it bluntly, crash-test results in their present state can be frustrating for shoppers. Take a look either at crash-test ratings from the federal government or from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and you’re bound to be confused by the sheer number of vehicles that have all garnered top ratings.

For some types of vehicles, like compact or mid-size crossover vehicles, it’s become virtually impossible to separate the safest vehicles from the merely safe ones. For several years now, the federal government hasn’t given any crash-test scores below three stars and the IIHS has awarded more ‘good’ scores in its frontal and...

Do you avoid drinking out of clear plastic water bottles, using antiperspirants with aluminum, or cooking in non-stick pans? Use a water purifier and ionizer everywhere you go, always buy organic, mind your cold-water fish list, and have your tap water checked yearly?

If so, we've found either a new source of anxiety in your life or a handy tool to factor into your next car purchase.

HealthyStuff.org is a relatively new information portal for the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Ecology Center, which uses an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device to test interior components in vehicles for substances "with known toxicity, persistence, and tendency to...