2010 Toyota Corolla Earns IIHS Top Safety Pick

Not all lost for Toyota, it would seem... Even if the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) doesn't particularly test the accelerator pedal, the brake response or the floormats in a car when it decides to hand over its coveted Top Safety Pick title to a given vehicle, having it in the pedigree of a car can only help.

And it may definitely help Toyota, who is lately battered by safety and quality concerns. So, having the 2010 Corolla get IIHS' Top Safety Pick, after managing to impress the "judges" in front, side, rollover, and rear impact tests (so, if the steering doesn't work, at least you'll survive the crash...).

"’Top Safety Pick’ recognizes the vehicles that afford buyers the best overall protection in common crashes," IIIHS president Adrian Lund said. "With more top performers, there's no reason to buy a small car with less than stellar crash test ratings."

The Corolla managed to score “good” in all the aforementioned categories. By passing them all and thanks to the fact that it features electronic stability control, the Corolla snatch a title which means, these days, a hell-of-a-lot for Toyota.

Alongside the Corolla, the Scion xB managed to achieve the same feat. The cubic car managed to withstand a force equal to 6.8 times its vehicle weight in the rollover test, while the Corolla beat the 1.5 times federal standard by supporting 5.1 times its vehicle weight.