It's cute, it's cuddly, and up until now if you got hit in the side by a shopping cart you would probably have been killed.  But the all new 2009 Toyota Yaris will start offering side airbags as standard equipment.  This was no doubt a much needed safety addition to the ever growing small car market that surely others will follow suit soon.

According to Toyota and IIHS tests the Yaris ranked the lowest possible score for side impact ratings, but with the side air bags ranked in the highest category.