SAFETY | 10 out of 10
Expert Quotes:
Not yet tested
NHTSA
Not yet tested
IIHS
It has a staggering 10 air bags--I counted them.
CNET
It has been engineered, developed and exhaustively tested to achieve U.S. five-star safety ratings and already has achieved them in Europe, Korea, China, India and Australia.
Kelley Blue Book
The Cruze, as with a few of today's safest small cars, offers a level of safety that, in many respects, puts it on par with larger cars.
This new compact sedan has a number of safety segment firsts. Its 10 airbags—including frontal, head-curtain, thorax side bags front and back, and knee bags—are the most in its segment, and the rear thorax and knee bags are standard-feature firsts for a value-priced compact car.
The 2011 Cruze also has a collapsible pedal system to help reduce the risk of leg or ankle injuries—in a frontal crash, especially. Other noteworthy standard safety features include OnStar with Automatic Crash Response, which automatically notifies OnStar and first responders, such as a 911 operator, depending on the chance of severe injury.
Crash-test results have been top-notch in every sense, including top 'good' results in every IIHS category and the IIHS Top Safety Pick designation for 2011. Also in federal NCAP testing the 2011 Cruze has earned five-star results overall and in every subcategory.
The Cruze has also aced every other major crash-test program in the world, including the Euro NCAP, KNCAP (Korea), C-NCAP (China), and ANCAP (Australia). These market-specific models of the Cruze vary slightly, but not significantly, in structure.
Conclusion
With top test results in every category, verified pretty much around the world, along with some of the best safety equipment in its class, the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze is a high achiever in safety.
