GM seeks $16 billion; dire future looms for Saturn, Saab

Today was the due date for GM and Chrysler to turn in their homework -- a plan defining each automaker's long-term viability. And in defining the way forward, General Motors has put the hangman's noose around Saab and Saturn.

And that's just the start.

Just how safe is your pickup truck?

Bigger is better, when it comes to crashes. A basic tenet of physics that for years has sold big, burly pickups as the "safer" alternative to mid-size sedans. But, as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety discovered, many of today's full-size pickups flunk the side impact crash test, a feat those wimpy sedans manage with ease.

So just how safe is yours?