In the automotive world, nothing says a car is more safe than a 5-Star crash test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and a Top Safety Pick award from the insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)

While the 2013 Dodge Dart, Chrysler’s first compact production car since 2005, hasn’t yet received its official crash test ratings from the NHTSA, it has just won itself a Top Safety Pick award. 

It did so by scoring a good performance in moderate overlap front, side, rollover and rear impact tests. 

In fact, the only area it didn’t score top marks in was the driver protection rating in a side-impact test. 

Scoring acceptable rather than good, the testers noted that the driver could be at risk of rib fractures in a severe side-impact, adding that significant injury risk to other body regions was low. 

With side airbags, front and rear head curtain airbags, front seat-mounted torso airbags and rear seat-mounted pelvis airbags, as well as driver and front passenger knee airbags, the 2013 Dodge Dart’s airbag system provides comprehensive protection to driver and passengers in an accident. 

2013 Dodge Dart SXT

2013 Dodge Dart SXT

In addition, electronic stability control and antilock brakes should help the driver retain control in even the most testing of conditions. 

Already on sale across the U.S. in both manual and automatic guises, the 2013 Dodge Dart will continue its staged rollout throughout the coming months, ultimately offering customers everything from the fuel efficient Dart Aero through to the performance-oriented Dart R/T.

Admittedly, the 2013 Dart still has to undergo official NHTSA testing, but with such a glowing report from the IIHS, a 5-star NHTSA rating is certainly possible.

In the meantime, be sure to check out this comprehensive road test of this important new compact car. 

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