A private U.S. highway safety group has analyzed crash test data and found the vehicle with the safest design is the Mercedes E-Class sedan. The report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety concluded the most unsafe vehicle is the two-door Chevrolet Blazer, the New York Times said Tuesday. The institute reached its conclusions about the Mercedes, Blazer and 197 other relatively popular vehicles by studying driver death rates of 1999 to 2002 model cars and trucks from 2000 to 2003. Among four-door midsize cars, the Volkswagen Passat performed best, with an average of 16 driver deaths per million registered vehicles annually, but the Chrysler Sebring had 126 driver deaths. Among midsize sport utility vehicles with four-wheel drive, the Toyota 4Runner had 12 deaths per million registered vehicles annually, compared with 134 for the two-door Ford Explorer. © Copyright 2005 by United Press International

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