Friday, May 28, 2010 Two Toyotas earn top honours from the IIHS
 The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), an American organization announced that the new Toyota Sienna van and the redesigned Avalon 2011 full-size sedan each earned the “Top Safety Pick” awards.
The “Top Safety Pick” is the highest safety distinction awarded by the IIHS. To qualify for the award, a vehicle must get the highest rating (“good”) in the IIHS’ front, side, rollover and rear impact tests and be equipped with electronic control. The IIHS testing was made more stringent in 2010 with the addition of the rollover test.
The new Toyota Sienna is the first, and currently the only minivan, to earn the IIHS “Top Safety Pick” since the rollover test was added to the criteria.
To earn a “good” rollover rating, a roof must be able to support the equivalent of four times the vehicle’s weight compared with the current federal (American) standard of 1.5. In the IIHS testing, the Sienna roof withstood a force equal to 4.12 times its vehicle weight. The Avalon’s roof withstood 4.07 times its vehicle weight.
The IIHS is an independent non-profit research and communications organization funded by auto insurance companies.
All Toyota models meet or exceed the safety requirements in North America.
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