The Camaro usually compels us to forget about most things other than horsepower, quarter-mile times and smoky burnouts. As such, "safe" would have to be somewhere near the bottom of attributes that come to mind when we think about the venerable pony car with a Chevrolet badge on its decklid.

But here it is in black and white (and yellow): The Chevy Camaro coupe is the first vehicle to earn a perfect score in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration'* safety testing since the federal testing procedures were revised for 2011, according to Examiner.com. While other vehicles have earned an overall NHTSA 5-Star Safety Rating, the Camaro was the first to score a perfect five-star rating in all six test categories. Those include frontal barrier crash test ratings for the driver and passenger, side crash ratings for the driver and passenger, a rollover rating and the vehicle'* overall rating.

While the report indicates that NHTSA has not yet tested its entire slate of 2012 model year vehicles, of the 46 that have completed the process, only 14 have received a 5-Star Safety Rating. Even if the Camaro'* safety score is an outlier among the other accolades it has received over the years – you know, the NHRA, Trans-Am and SCCA hardware and such – kudos to Chevy.

(source: autoblog)