The 2007 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX crossovers have earned Top Safety Pick ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the first of a line of Ford Motor Company vehicles to benefit from the company's strategy to accelerate the rollout of its exclusive roll stability control system and advanced crash protection systems.
To earn a Top Safety Pick, vehicles must earn good ratings in IIHS' high-speed front and side crash tests, and in evaluations of seats and head restraints. An added requirement for 2007 is that vehicles must also offer electronic stability control.
"Earning a 'Top Safety Pick' is great news because the Insurance Institute's tests are some of the most demanding conducted outside of our own laboratories, and customers are increasingly relying on them when choosing a new vehicle," said Sue Cischke, vice president of Environmental and Safety Engineering, Ford Motor Company. "The Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX also earned the government's highest 5-Star ratings in recent side impact crash testing."
Cischke added that every new Ford, Lincoln and Mercury SUV and crossover launched since the 2006 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer now has standard electronic stability control and side impact protection. By the end of 2009, every Ford retail vehicle will feature these cutting-edge technologies.
Ford Motor Company and its global brands have built 4 million vehicles globally with electronic stability control systems. More than 1 million of those vehicles feature Ford's industry exclusive, AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control (RSC), the world's only system with two gyroscopic sensors to actively measures and help control both yaw and roll movements.
The Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX offer Ford's exclusive AdvanceTrac with RSC, front seat-mounted side air bags and Safety Canopy air curtain system with rollover detection – all as standard equipment.
Both vehicles also come standard with Ford's Personal Safety System, which includes dual-stage driver and front-passenger air bags, a driver seat position sensor, passenger seat occupant classification sensor, and load-limiting safety belt retractors and pretensioners. The air bag system uses front passenger classification sensing to determine if the seat is occupied, and if so, whether the passenger is an adult, a child or a child in a child safety seat. Air bag deployment is tailored – or altogether suppressed – to help provide the proper level of protection.
Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ also earned the highest individual ratings from IIHS for frontal crash test performance. In addition, Fusion and Milan achieved top performance in the IIHS side impact test. All three vehicles come with standard front seat side impact airbags and 1st- and 2nd-row side-impact air curtains.