Hyundai Santa Fe gets Top Safety Pick

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety names midsize Hyundai SUV a top pick.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has added the Hyundai Santa Fe, a midsized SUV, to its list vehicles that earned the group's Top Safety Pick award.

The Insurance Institute, which is financed by insurance companies, conducts its own crash tests that are different from those conducted by the federal government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Insurance Institute rates vehicles for front and side impact safety as well as for whiplash protection from side impacts.

Gallery: All Top Safety Picks

To earn the Top Safety Pick designation, a vehicle must get the Institute's top rating of "Good" for front and side impact protection as well as for whiplash protection. It must also be available with electronic stability control, a computerized system that helps prevent skidding, loss of control and rollovers during abrupt maneuvers.

"Criteria to win are tough because they're intended to drive continued safety improvements such as high crash test ratings and rapid addition of electronic stability control, which is standard equipment on the Santa Fe," said Institute president Adrian Lund in a statement.

Analyses of crash data by the Insurance Institute and NHTSA have shown that the technology could prevent as many as a third of all fatal crashes.

A recently announced NHTSA regulation requires car makers to begin putting stability control on all new or redesigned models starting with the 2009 model year. It will be required on all new cars by the 2012 model year.