Euro NCAP annually raises the criteria for a five-star rating and the organisation has not only announced the 2012 rules, but also released its first test results for this year. We are talkign about the Jeep Compass and the new Honda Civic - while the latter achieved a five-star rating, the first disappointed, only managing to achieve two starts, one of the lowest scores among new cars on the market today.

The new Honda Civic hatchback for the European market has been tested by Euro NCAP and we have good news: there are no horror stories, it’s decently safe and got the maximum five-star rating.

Since the Civic is a good looking toad of a car, we’d want to enjoy it by ourselves, with no kids, pedestrians or significant others concerning us. This is good because it scored a very impressive 94 percent rating for adult occupant protection, and only 83% in child protection.

We don’t think this well cheer all the current Chevy TrailBlazer owners who will likely not be allowed to buy the new generation in the US... but here goes! A total of 309,000 Chevrolet Trailblazers are currently under investigation for possible fire hazard in the driver side door.

The NHTSA says these fires are likely caused by a switch in the power window mechanism or some other the circuits for the system.

Another week another recall… well not yet, but it might be coming. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is opening an investigation into 830,000 Toyota Camry sedans, Camry Solara coupes and cabriolets and RAV4 SUVs, all built in the 2007 model year.

The safety body says it received six complaints of a fires originating in the drive side door. This is likely to be caused by a master power window switch found there that is short circuiting.

Safety bodies such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration constantly upgrade their rating, forcing automotive producers to make cars safer in order to receive the top score and it is now time for the NHTSA to introduce a new move of this kind.

The Administration is currently looking to introduce a reward system for safety avoidance technology, as Wards Automotive reports.