Automobile Safety

The 2009 Nissan Murano was the best performer in new crash tests of midsize sport utility vehicles, while the Hummer H3 had one of the poorest showings, according to results released today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The institute, which is funded by the insurance industry, said the redesigned Murano was the only vehicle among the nine tested to get the highest rating of "good" in front, side and rear crash tests. It praised Nissan Motor Co.

The government wants to change its car safety ratings by strengthening crash tests and promoting collision avoidance technology that automakers are adopting, Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters said Monday. The agency's proposal calls for improving frontal crash tests so that they would measure how a person's upper legs are affected in a collision. The new approach would also assess how side air bags protect a driver's head.

Two dozen 2007 passenger vehicles received top scores in government crash ratings Tuesday under a system that is expected to be revised to offer more meaningful information for car buyers.

Toyota and Honda dominated this year's Consumer Reports auto rankings as Japanese models once again finished first in all 10 of the magazine's vehicle categories. In the latest rankings, released Wednesday, Toyota Motor Corp.'s RAV4 (small sport utility vehicle), Highlander hybrid (mid-size SUV), Sienna (minivan) and Prius ("green" car), and Honda Motor Co.'s Fit (subcompact), Accord (family sedan) and Civic (small sedan) took top honors in their categories. Cars from Mazda Motor Corp.

Those minor fender benders might cost more than you think, according to new crash test results released Thursday by the insurance industry. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that most bumpers on mid-size cars do little to prevent costly damage to vehicles, even in low-speed crashes of 6 miles an hour or less. The crashes frequently occur in parking lots and in commuter traffic. Testing for the first time by the Arlington, Va.

DaimlerChrysler has lost a $55.2-million verdict in a lawsuit filed by the family of a San Pedro longshoreman who was run over and killed by his 1992 Dodge Dakota pickup after he exited the truck. A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury Wednesday awarded $5.2 million in compensatory damages for wrongful death and $50 million in punitive damages, said lawyer Scott P. Nealey, who represented the plaintiffs.

After dozens of reports of fires in Dodge Durango and Jeep Liberty sport utility vehicles, DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group recalled nearly 500,000 vehicles Friday. Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler said it had received 66 reports of fires in Durango SUVs from the 2004 to 2006 model years because of electrical overloads in the driver's side instrument panel below the dashboard. The automaker said it was recalling 328,424 Durangos.

Investigators are trying to determine if a separated tire tread may have caused a pickup truck to veer out of control and slam into a tree Thursday morning on the shoulder of the 10 Freeway in Ontario, killing five family members, including two children. The accident on the eastbound side of the freeway near Vineyard Avenue -- along with an early-morning big-rig accident and fire on the 10 Freeway in West Covina -- snarled traffic for hours during the beginning of the morning commute.

Consultants hired by Consumer Reports to investigate how it botched a story about infant car seats concluded Tuesday that a major misunderstanding between the magazine and the lab that conducted the test resulted in the error. The findings of the test -- that most seats "failed disastrously" -- were withdrawn two weeks after their Jan. 4 publication when the magazine learned its side-impact tests had simulated speeds twice as fast as it reported.

The government plans to issue requirements next month that new vehicles include anti-rollover technology, officials said Thursday. Nicole Nason, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, told a congressional budget panel that electronic stability control technology would be mandated on all new passenger vehicles by 2011.