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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
The 2005 Volkswagen Jetta received the best score ever in a side-impact crash test performed by an insurance group.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which conducts its own tests apart from the federal vehicle crash ratings, gave the VW car its top rating of "good" in every individual measurement category -- injury measures, head protection, and structural design -- for a side-impact crash. No other vehicle tested has ever gotten the good rating on all three measures.
In the institute's side-impact crash test, a barrier strikes the car at the height of an occupant's head, which it said simulates the kind of crash that happens when an SUV or pickup hits a car from the side.
Click here for a picture of the VW Jetta.
The Toyota Camry with a side curtain airbag was the second best car model in the side-impact test, while the Honda Accord with the side air bag was third. The Mitsubishi Galant, also with a side airbag, also got a "good" rating overall in the side test.
But the Camry without the side airbag received an overall "poor" rating from the institute's crash test. And even having a side airbag wasn't enough to insure a "good" rating on the test. The Subaru Legacy got only a "marginal" rating despite the air bag, and the Saturn L series sedan got a poor rating with its airbag. All the vehicles tested that did not have a side airbag got poor ratings as well.
The Jetta's results "show you don't have to spend a lot of money to get a vehicle that offers good protection in front and side crashes," said a statement from Institute president Brian O'Neill. "We want more manufacturers to do what Volkswagen has done and make side airbags with head protection standard in all of their vehicles."
The Jetta also got a "good" rating in frontal offset crash test performed by IIHS.
"This new Jetta design shows what manufacturers can do to improve occupant protection in serious side impacts when cars are hit by taller and heavier SUVs and pickup trucks," said O'Neill.
Volkswagen requested the front and side tests of the Jetta early in the model year, and the Institute's policy is to grant such requests if a manufacturer provides reimbursement for the cost of the vehicles.
The institute's frontal crash test is more demanding on the vehicle than the full-frontal test used by the federal government because the force of the impact is transferred to only the driver's side of the car.
It found the Jetta's structure held up well in that offset crash. But It also found forces recorded on the driver dummy's right leg indicate that a person in a crash of the same severity could suffer a fractured tibia.
"The Jetta is a good performer but not a 'best pick' in the frontal test," O'Neill says. The four vehicles given the group's "best pick" rating for front crash test were the Camry, the Accord, the Subaru Legacy and the Mazda 6.
A Volkswagen spokesman said the company was pleased with the results of the IIHS test, which he said has also been seen in testing by a European auto safety group.
"The Jetta is a new benchmark in the midsize class safety in our point of view," said VW spokesman Chris Buhlmann. He said the automaker was able to spread the development costs of its safety features between its different brands of cars -- worldwide brands VW, Audi as well as brands sold only in Europe and Asia.
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