Should a side impact collision occur from an SUV or pickuptruck, the two vehicles one would want to be in are the redesignedChevrolet Impala and Toyota Avalon, according to the InsuranceInstitute for Highway Safety. The latest side impact test indicatedthat both cars, which are both designed with side airbags, are thetop performers in such a situation. The Buick Lucerne and HyundaiAzera, also equipped with standard side airbags, earned the secondhighest rating.

Side impacts are the second most common fatal crash type afterfrontal crashes, according to the IIHS. About 9,700 people werekilled in side impacts in 2004. In crashes involving newer modelcars in collisions with other passenger vehicles, more driverdeaths now occur in cars struck in the side (51 percent) than inthe front (44 percent). A vehicle's side evaluation is based onperformance in a crash test in which the side of the vehicle isstruck by a barrier moving at 31 mph. The barrier represents thefront end of a pickup or SUV.

Growing sales of SUVs and pickup trucks have intensified heightmismatches among passenger vehicles, which increases the risk ofserious head injuries among occupants of side-struck vehicles. SUVsand pickups made up 31 percent of new vehicle sales in 1994; theproportion had increased to nearly 47 percent by 2004. The Impalaand Avalon's side structures performed reasonably well in resistingintrusion from the striking barrier during the crash test. Bothcars are equipped with standard curtain-style side airbags designedto protect the heads of people in both front and rear seats. Theworst performers — Chrysler 300, Ford Five Hundred, and CrownVictoria, according to the IIHS — do not have side airbags.

More information is available at www.iihs.org.