In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Malibu are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The S60 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Chevrolet Malibu has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The S60 doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
Both the Malibu and the S60 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Chevrolet Malibu is safer than the Volvo S60:
|
Malibu |
S60 |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
172 |
192 |
Neck Injury Risk |
18% |
25.7% |
Neck Compression |
29 lbs. |
63 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
252/306 lbs. |
395/518 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
272 |
314 |
Chest Compression |
.7 inches |
.7 inches |
Neck Compression |
26 lbs. |
114 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
162/232 lbs. |
360/533 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Chevrolet Malibu is safer than the Volvo S60:
|
Malibu |
S60 |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Max Damage Depth |
12 inches |
13 inches |
HIC |
279 |
319 |
Spine Acceleration |
27 G’s |
29 G’s |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.