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yes, the last decade means 2000's.
IIHS introduced the SUV side impact test around 2002 or 2003 iirc. It was after the 9-3ss was designed, if not released. the 9-3ss was the first car to get 5 stars in it (iirc).
SAAB recognized the SUV-car compatibility problem in the early to mid 1990's + started testing how well the 9000 held up. It didn't! They fed this back to engineering. Hence 9-5.
For the 1990's the 9000 was an extremely safe car (note the repeated Folksam awards).
Safety had been of marginal concern to most manufacturers prior to the media hype generated by IIHS marketing it's results starting around 2000. Prior to that, the primary objective was to pass government tests, in many cases, as "barely" as possible to keep costs down. The big 3 fought raising roof strength standards (while Saab and Volvo exceeded the standards by a huge margin for ages)... a high school friend of mine was killed in a rollover from a roof collapse... roll a saab + that simply does not happen! Anyway, the number of cup holders + rolling/folding seats (that ejected passengers out the rear door) used to be far more important in marketing than safety ratings + that has changed to some degree... very few ads don't have "5 star safety!!" somewhere in there today...
The seat belt was of course another big step in safety, but that was quite a ways back... you will note that the big 3 were very slow to adopt shoulder belts + headrests in the back (certainly compared to european manufacturers)... nevermind all the brouhaha over the laws mandating seatbelt use...
The air bag was mandated in the early 1990's. Sure. A government regulation. Twin airbags not long after (1994). Actual safety and safety features are not entirely correlated.
Perhaps it's partly my perception of the situation, but my impression is that there has been an increased focus on safety starting in the past decade for many brands, if nothing more than because the test results have become so much more visible to the general public.
James...
posted by 216.59.228...
, Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:32:40
, Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:43:48, Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:56:30, Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:36:50, Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:38:42, Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:22:31
, Thu, 15 Dec 2011 06:05:11, Thu, 15 Dec 2011 08:04:22, Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:54:58, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:42:45, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:01:15, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:01:53, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 06:36:40, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:48:41, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:36:11, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:39:06, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:31:03, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:45:45, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:56:05, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:57:39, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:33:06, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:46:24
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