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We've come a long way - at least when it comes to vehicle safety. And some might argue that government regulators - particularly Canadian government regulators - have had almost nothing to do with it.

However, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a research group funded by the U.S. insurance industry, would likely be counted among those who have had a massive impact on vehicle safety.

While the U.S. government has been relatively slow in adopting increasingly stringent crash test standards, the IIHS has been raising the bar for a decade and a half. As for Canada, Transport Canada crash tests vehicles, but the results are kept secret.

Being secretive is something quite foreign to the IIHS. By loudly publicizing the results of its crash tests and various other safety research findings, the IIHS has helped to push the auto industry to build stronger, more robust vehicles, and to add highly useful safety devices such as airbags and electronic anti-skid technology.

Not only does the IIHS actively and aggressively disseminate the results of its safety tests, the institute isn't afraid to pick winners and losers.

"In safety terms, we've come very far, very fast in just the past decade," says IIHS president Adrian Lund. "When the institute began conducting frontal tests for consumer information in 1995, few vehicles earned top ratings. Now almost all do. Most cars failed the side tests we added in 2003.

"Test results in that initial round were so bad we nearly broke our budget for repairing the crash test dummy. But now most vehicles ace the side test thanks to side airbags and stronger side structures.

"Factor in improved head restraints to protect against whiplash and electronic stability control to prevent crashes, and consumers are the clear winners."

Lund and the IIHS say the near-wholesale adoption of critical safety gear as standard equipment on most new vehicles has had a huge impact on saving lives and reducing vehicle-accident injuries.

While no agency publicly compiles such figures in Canada - not Transport Canada, nor any other government agency - the IIHS does. In the United States, says the institute, 92 per cent of 2010 model cars, 99 per cent of SUVs and 66 per cent of pickup trucks have standard side airbags with head protection. Electronic stability control is standard on 85 per cent of cars, 100 per cent of SUVs and 62 per cent of pickups sold in the United States.

Yet even though new vehicles are vastly safer now than a decade ago, the IIHS keeps pushing. The latest IIHS safety target: roof strength.

"Now that roof strength is a priority, we think manufacturers will move quickly to bolster roofs to do well in our roof strength test. This means consumers likely will have more Top Safety Pick choices for 2011," Lund says.

Ah, the Top Safety Picks. For 2010, 19 cars and eight SUVs earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick nod. Lack of roof strength to protect occupants in rollovers tripped up dozens of vehicles that had earned the nod in 2009 when 94 nameplates were named Top Safety Picks.

Among the most prominent safety "have-nots" is Toyota. For the first time in three years, none of Toyota's vehicles received top rating from the insurance group.

Toyota and its Lexus and Scion subsidiaries had a strong showing in 2009 with 11 winners. But in 2010, all of Toyota's brands were shut out. Four other manufacturers did not have a qualifying vehicle for 2010: BMW, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Saab.

At the other end, Ford led all auto makers for the second year in a row with six picks from the IIHS - including four Volvos. Subaru had five top picks, with all of its 2010 models qualifying except the WRX version of the Impreza.

Volkswagen also had five top-safety vehicles, and Chrysler had four. Offerings from General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Kia and Nissan also made the list.

To get the top safety nod, vehicles must do a "good" job of protecting people in front, side, rear, and now rollover crashes. Winners also must have electronic stability control; ESC significantly reduces crash risk, according to various research studies.

"With the addition of our new roof strength evaluation, our crash test results now cover all of the most common kinds of crashes," Lund says.

Still, regardless of the ratings, buyers anxious to get the safest ride should remember that size does, indeed, matter. Larger, heavier vehicles generally afford better protection in serious crashes than smaller, lighter ones, Lund says. So even with a Top Safety Pick, a small car isn't as crashworthy as a bigger one.

This is why for many family buyers, a mid-size car might represent the best package of safety, fuel economy and affordability. Simply as a result of their size, a well-made mid-size car offers superior protection to a smaller car. Certainly large cars and SUVs can offer more protection based on size and bulk, but a larger vehicle is often impractical and unaffordable for many mid-market buyers.

That is why we're taking a particularly close look at mid-size cars. We've compiled the Top 10 list of safest mid-size cars based on IIHS testing.

Surprisingly, the Honda Accord isn't on the list, and neither are the Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion. All three have been the best-selling mid-size cars in North America for many years, but this year they failed to earn top marks in all the latest IIHS tests.

The Accord, a top pick the two years before 2010, didn't earn the required good roof strength rating to qualify this year, though the roof is rated "acceptable." The Ford Fusion dropped off the list for the same reason.

"Honda and Ford would have to make only minor changes to achieve good ratings for roof strength, as the Accord and Fusion just missed the mark," Lund says.

The Camry, meanwhile, missed the mark for its rear crash evaluation. This car's seats and head restraints are rated marginal for protection against whiplash injury.

Interestingly, other auto makers improved head restraint protection and earned their way onto the list. For example, Chrysler changed the head restraints on the 2010 Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger and Journey, and Jeep Patriot. As a result, all earned "good" ratings and the top safety nod. General Motors upgraded the seats and head restraints in the Chevrolet Malibu to get on the list as well.

"Cars and SUVs that win Top Safety Pick are designs that go far beyond minimum (U.S.) federal safety standards," Lund says.

Kudos to the IIHS, then. But the obvious question is why - why are researchers for the insurance lobby doing more to push auto makers on safety than government agencies officially charged with that responsibility? Just asking.

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Audi A3

Base price: $32,300

Key standard safety features: ABS (antilock braking system); EBD (electronic brake force distribution); electronic stability control (ESC); front, side and head protection airbags.

Chevrolet Malibu

(built after November, 2009) Base price: $23,995

Key standard safety features: ESC; front, side and head curtain airbags; full-function traction control (TC); ABS; OnStar in-vehicle communication; emergency trunk release handle.

Chrysler Sebring

four-door with optional electronic stability control

Base price: $23,995

Key standard safety features: front, side and curtain airbags; tire-pressure monitoring system; emergency trunk release.

Dodge Avenger

with optional electronic stability control

Base price: $22,995

Key standard safety features: front, side and curtain airbags; tire-pressure monitoring system; emergency trunk release.

Mercedes C-Class

Base price: $35,800

Key standard safety features: front, side, curtain airbags and driver's knee air bag; ABS; tire-pressure monitoring system; ESC; active head restraints; first aid kit.

Subaru Legacy

Base price: $23,995 Key standard safety features: ABS; ESC; TC; front, side and curtain air bags; EBD.

Subaru Outback

Base price: $28,995

Key standard safety features: ABS; ESC; TC; front, side and curtain airbags; EBD; collapsible brake pedal.

Volkswagen Jetta

sedan

Base price: $22,175

Key standard safety features: ABS; EBD; TC; front, side and curtain airbags; emergency trunk release.

Volkswagen Passat

sedan

Base price: $27,775

Key standard safety features: ABS; EBD; TC; front, side and curtain airbags; collapsible steering column.

Volvo C30

Base price: $27,695

Key standard safety features: ABS; ESC; TC; EBD; front and side airbags; driver and passenger whiplash protection; collapsible steering column.

Based on testing by the U.S.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

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Rollovers

Vehicles rated "good" have roofs more than twice as strong as the current (U.S.) federal standard requires.

The Institute for Highway Safety estimates that such roofs reduce the risk of serious and fatal injury in single-vehicle rollovers by about 50 per cent compared with roofs meeting the minimum requirement.

Frontal crash-worthiness

Evaluations are based on results of 40 mph (64.4 km/h) frontal offset crash tests. Vehicles are evaluated for their ability to protect occupants from intrusions that might cause injury.

Experts use slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled crash test dummy movement during the test.

Side impact protection

Side evaluations are based on performance in a crash test in which the side of a vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 50 km/h. The barrier represents the front end of a pickup or SUV.

Rear crash protection

This test simulates a collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 mph (32 km/h). Seats without good or acceptable geometry are rated poor over all because they can't be positioned to protect many people.

Roof strength

To test roof strength, a metal plate is pushed against one side of a roof at a constant speed. To earn a "good" rating for rollover protection, the roof must withstand a force of four times the vehicle's weight before reaching 127 mm (five inches) of crush.

To see the full results of all IIHS tests and for a complete list of Top Safety Picks, visit http://www.iihs.org

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Seat Belts

Seat belts are designed to keep occupants inside a vehicle in the event of a crash. They also reduce the risk of occupants suffering an impact with steering wheel, dashboard or windshield. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says seat belts are one of the most important safety features available.

Side-impact and side-curtain airbags

Side-impact airbags are mounted in a car's seat backs or doors and protect the torso during side-impact crashes. Side-curtain or head-curtain airbags typically deploy downward from the vehicle's roof rail and generally span the length of the cabin.

Antilock braking system

ABS prevents a vehicle's wheels from locking by rapidly applying intermittent pressure when a driver brakes. This allows the driver to maintain some measure of steering control in emergency situations or on slippery road surfaces. ABS is also the foundation for advanced accident-avoidance technology such as electronic stability control (ESC).

Electronic stability

control

ESC senses when a vehicle is starting to lose control and automatically applies brake pressure to one or more of its wheels to turn the vehicle in the appropriate direction. It assists drivers in maintaining control of their vehicles during extreme steering manoeuvres or on slippery roads.

Rear parking sensors/

rear-mounted cameras

This safety system sends a beeping signal or flashes a light to warn a driver that a person or object is in his path. Rear-mounted cameras project an image of what's happening in the rear of the vehicle on the navigation screen.

Active head restraints

These head restraints narrow the space between an occupant's head and the headrest. The U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says properly positioned headrests or head restraint can help prevent neck injuries in a crash.

Child safety seat compatibility

Parents and drivers of small children need to make sure child safety and booster seats are properly secured in a vehicle.

Tire pressure monitoring system

A dashboard warning light alerts the driver when one or more of a vehicle's tires are significantly under-inflated and unsafe to drive on. Under-inflated tires are a leading cause of tire failure that can lead to a blowout.

Daytime running lights

Low-beam headlights, continuously in use, make a car more visible to oncoming traffic. The IIHS estimates that daytime running lights help, somewhat, in reducing head-on collisions.

Lane-departure warning system

This device warns a driver when the vehicle starts to move out of its lane. An audible sound, like a chime, warns the driver of the unintentional lane departure.