This early in the calendar year, we often have to wait to see what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration thinks about the overall safety of a vehicle, relying only on the findings of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's crash tests, which usually come out first.  For 2012 model year vehicles like the Chrysler 300, as well as the sweet new Dodge Charger, complete safety information takes a little while to make its way into the hands of the car-buying public.

But we shall wait no more, as the NHTSA has released their crash test results for both the Charger and the 300.  Happily for us Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealerships, the results were overwhelmingly good.

Both the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger received five-star ratings for front and side crashes, as well as four-star ratings for roll-over safety, giving both vehicles the designation from the federal government as Five-Star vehicles.  Add this to the IIHS's "Top Safety Pick" accolade heaped on both of these vehicles, and what you've got is a couple of very safe cars that also look great and are a lot of fun to drive.

San Antonio Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger owners may or may not know that their vehicles are what autoblog.com calls "mechanical twins," as both are equipped with the same 3.6-liter V6 engine capable of 292 horsepower.  Also, both come standard with rear-wheel drive and eight-speed automatic transmission, which means if one of these cars is safe, both of them pretty much have to be, and that appears to be the case in this instance.