The Volvo C70 earned the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award for superior crash protection in the first tests ever the IIHS has conducted of 10 midsize convertible models.

To get this rating a vehicle has to score "Good" in all three of the Institute crash tests; frontal offset, side and rear (seat assessment for Whiplash). An Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system as standard is also required. For convertibles the IIHS have also added that the vehicle must be equipped with roll bars like the Volvo C70's Roll-over Protection System (ROPS) to get the Top Safety Pick.

"The very high safety level of the new Volvo C70 is a result of our continuous development based on our extensive real world traffic research. Select crash tests used to assess safety in these kinds of surveys can only take one or few aspects of a vehicle's overall safety level into account. Still they give you an indication of the safety level", says Ingrid Skogsmo, head of the Safety Centre at Volvo Cars. "It is of course very encouraging to get this kind of acknowledgement. We will, however, continue to work along our guiding principle: cars are driven by people and in case of an accident the car should provide the best possible protection."She concludes.

The Volvo C70 - a benchmark for convertible safety

The Volvo C70 was launched in 2005 and has set the benchmark for convertible safety covering both preventive and protective aspects. Our human centered safety approach has resulted in a number of safety systems being standard in the Volvo C70, including the unique Door Mounted Inflatable Curtain for side impact protection, the use of multiple grades of steel for frontal and rear collisions, and Volvo's Roll Over Protection System (ROPS), Dynamic Stability Traction Control. In addition, the Volvo C70 customer can choose Blind Spot Indication System (BLIS) and IDIS (Intelligent Driver Information System).

Source: Ford Motor Company