GOOD+. That’s the top rating which the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gives to cars whose LATCH, or Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children, are easiest to use. And the US agency’s latest review found this car to be the 2019 Mazda6.
The IIHS explained LATCH is intended to make installing child safety seats easier in order to minimize errors and protect the youngest passenger in the car should a crash occur. To qualify for a Good+ rating, vehicles must provide LATCH-equipped seating positions in addition to lower anchors no more than three-fourths of an inch deep within the seat bight, and lower anchors having a clearance angle greater than 54 degrees.
Also, the Good+ rating specifies that the force required to attach a child seat connector to the lower anchors should be less than 18kg (40 pounds). Tether anchors must also be placed in the vehicle’s rear deck, or in the middle of the seatback. Plus, the area where the tether anchor is located must not have any other hardware that could be confused for the tether anchor.
“With child restraints, a good, tight installation is critical but can be difficult to achieve,” said Jessica Jermakian, an IIHS senior research engineer. “Thanks to these recent improvements in vehicle LATCH hardware, we expect more children will be riding in correctly installed seats.”
The IIHS cited the Mazda6 has always focused on safety technologies.
Besides its easy-to-use LATCH, the car is also equipped with advanced smart city brake support with pedestrian detection, blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning with lane-keep assist, smart brake support, and radar-based cruise control with stop-and-go function, among other items.
“Mazda vehicles are designed with the driver and passenger in mind,” said Jeff Guyton, president of Mazda North American Operations. “We design our vehicles with an active approach to safety, giving all members of the family peace of mind. We are proud to receive this recognition from IIHS as a testament to our dedication to safety.”
The IIHS is an independent, non-governmental safety-testing organization funded by the US insurance industry.
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