2013 Ford Escape Added to Top Safety Pick Honor Roll

Still in its rookie season in the marketplace, the 2013 Ford Escape already is setting new standards for a very popular nameplate. Just last month, for instance, the Escape racked up 28,188 sales—an increase of 36.8 percent over August 2011—and enjoyed its highest one-month volume total ever. Also, even facing strong competition from the newish Honda CR-V and resurgent Chevy Equinox, the Escape was the best-selling crossover in the country in the previous month, while snagging the No. 5 spot overall and besting high-volume cars like the Chevy Cruze and reinvented Nissan Altima.

More recently, the 2013 Ford Escape also surpassed its predecessor in another key measure, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recognized it as a 2012 Top Safety Pick; the past generation of the Escape missed out on the award by scoring a “marginal” rating in the IIHS’ roof-strength evaluation. The current model aced not only that test, but also those for front, rear, and side crash protection.

Which makes now an excellent time for a quick review of the many safety features available on Ford’s hot-selling new crossover.

(Note: The IIHS did not put the 2013 Escape through its new small-overlap crash evaluation, which will not become an official component of the Top Safety Pick testing regimen until next year.)

2013 Ford Escape: Safety Recap

One of the most important ways that the Blue Oval boosted the safety of the 2013 Ford Escape was by significantly increasing the amount of high-strength steel that goes into its structure. In fact, ultra-high-strength steel was added to the vehicle’s body for the very first time, and that material, as well as other advanced high-strength steel, accounts for one third of the new Escape’s body structure.

The Escape also comes to the marketplace with new air-bag technology. In addition to providing increased protection for occupants’ pelvis area, the Escape’s side air bags have been enhanced with adaptive venting—a class-exclusive feature that automatically helps ensure proper inflation pressures based on the size of the Escape’s passengers. And speaking of exclusives, the Escape also is the only vehicle in its class with Curve Control, capable of adjusting torque distribution to slow the Escape if it enters a corner too quickly.

Then, beyond this plethora of protective measures, Ford offers its usual roster of high-tech safety items, including an available Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with rear cross-traffic alert and standard AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control, along with nifty touches like integrated blind-spot mirrors and head restraints/three-point safety belts at each seating position.

Oh, and it probably also helps that this isn’t the first time the 2013 Ford Escape has undergone crash testing. Ford itself ran the Escape through more than 5,000 real-world and virtual collisions to make sure it delivers optimum safety protection for its occupants.

The 2013 Ford Escape—now a Top Safety Pick of the IIHS—is currently on sale with an MSRP of $22,700.