The new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is slowly unveiling the results of the freshly updated five-star New Car Assessment Program, and not all 2011 models are faring so well. USA Today reports that the 2011 Honda Civic is the latest such victim after the popular compact sedan received an overall score of three stars; down one star from the 2010 model year. The Civic's score was downgraded due in part to a woeful side impact score of two stars. The female crash-test dummy on the passenger side reportedly netted a four-star score, but the male crash-test dummy driver managed but two stars. On the upside, the Civic netted four-star ratings for front crash and rollover risk.

The Civic isn't the only popular vehicle among the 55 models tested that hasn't fared so well in testing. The Toyota Camry and Honda CR-V were also rated at three stars, while the Nissan Versa received only two scores. Luckily for Honda, a newly refreshed Civic is on the way for the 2012 model year.



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