Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Encyclopedia
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is a U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 funded by auto insurers, established in 1959 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...

. It works to reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes, and the rate of injuries and amount of property damage in the crashes that still occur. It carries out research and produces ratings for popular passenger vehicles as well as for certain consumer products such as child car booster seats.

Frontal offset impact test

The Institute's front crash test differs from that of the American government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...

 (NHTSA) New Car Assessment Program in that its tests are offset. This test exposes 40% of the front of the vehicle to an impact with a deformable barrier at approximately 40 mph (64 km/h). Because only 40% of the vehicle's front must stand the impact, it shows the structural strength better than the NHTSA's full-width testing does. Many real-life frontal impacts are offset. However the NHTSA's full frontal crash tests result in the occupant compartment going through greater deceleration. The full frontal crash test is more suitable for evaluating restraint systems such as seat belts and airbags.

The IIHS and NHTSA tests can differ. For example, the NHTSA gave the Chevrolet Venture
Chevrolet Venture
The Chevrolet Venture is a minivan produced by General Motors from the 1997 to 2005 model years. It replaced the Chevrolet Lumina APV. Identical minivans were also sold in Europe as the Opel Sintra, and in the UK, they were badged as a Vauxhall. Opel assisted in the development of the minivan as well...

 (also marketed as Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...

 Silhouette, Pontiac
Pontiac
Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...

 Montana/TransSport) 4/5 stars (with 5 stars being the best and 1 star the worst), but the IIHS rated it "Poor" for its poor structural integrity which becomes apparent in the offset crash test. This minivan was one of the poorest performers since the offset frontal crash tests were begun in 1995. The same applies for the 1997–2003 Ford F-150.
The IIHS evaluates six individual categories assigning each a "Good", "Acceptable", "Marginal", or "Poor" rating before determining the vehicle's overall frontal impact rating.

  • It is important to note as with the NHTSA's frontal impact test, vehicles across different weight categories may not be directly compared. This is because the heavier vehicle is generally considered to have an advantage if it encounters a lighter vehicle or is involved in a single-vehicle crash. The IIHS demonstrated this by crashing three midsize sedans with three smaller Good rated minicars. All three minicars were rated "Poor" in these special offset head-on car-to-car tests, while the midsize cars rated "Good" or "Acceptable."

Side impact test

Compared to the NHTSA test rig, which simulates the impact from the front end of a passenger car, the taller IIHS test rig simulates the impact of an sport utility vehicle
Sport utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...

 or Pickup truck
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...

 (approximately a quarter of all new cars sold) into the side of the vehicle being tested. This is a very demanding test of both the vehicle's structural integrity and its side airbag systems, if any. (Seat belts play a less important role in side crashes on the impacted side of the vehicle.) While most new vehicles achieve 4–5 stars from the NHTSA (where head injuries are not part of the rating), many do not score well in the IIHS side impact test.

The IIHS assigns the same "Good", "Acceptable", "Marginal", or "Poor" ratings to nine categories before deciding the vehicle's overall side impact score.

Rear crash protection/head restraint ratings

This test uses the vehicle's driver seat in order to determine the effectiveness of the head restraints. The driver's seat is placed on a sled to mimic rear end collisions at 20 mph. Rear end collisions at low to moderate speeds typically do not result in serious injuries but they are common. In 2005 the IIHS estimated 25% of medical costs were related to whiplash injuries.

Roof strength evaluation

In the United States rollovers accounted for nearly 25% of passenger vehicle fatalities. Features such as electronic stability control
Electronic stability control
Electronic stability control is a computerized technology that may potentially improve the safety of a vehicle's stability by detecting and minimizing skids. When ESC detects loss of steering control, it automatically applies the brakes to help "steer" the vehicle where the driver intends to go...

 are proven to significantly reduce rollovers and lane departure warning system
Lane departure warning system
In road-transport terminology, a lane departure warning system is a mechanism designed to warn a driver when the vehicle begins to move out of its lane on freeways and arterial roads. These systems are designed to minimize accidents by addressing the main causes of collisions: driver error,...

s may also help. Rollover sensing side curtain airbags also help to minimize injuries in the event of a rollover. In March 2009 the IIHS began testing the roof strength of certain vehicles only.

Top Safety Pick Award

The Top Safety Pick is an annual award to the best-performing cars of the year. In order to receive a Top Safety Pick the vehicle must receive "Good" overall marks in the front and side impact tests, as well as a "Good" overall rating based on the driver's seat head restraint design. Electronic Stability Control
Electronic Stability Control
Electronic stability control is a computerized technology that may potentially improve the safety of a vehicle's stability by detecting and minimizing skids. When ESC detects loss of steering control, it automatically applies the brakes to help "steer" the vehicle where the driver intends to go...

 must also be at least optional. Beginning with the 2010 award, vehicles must also earn a "Good" rating in the new roof strength test.

50th Anniversary

In 2009, the IIHS celebrated its 50th anniversary, and tested a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air
Chevrolet Bel Air
The Chevrolet Bel Air is a full-size automobile that was produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1950–1975 model years. Hardtops in the Chevrolet Deluxe Styleline model range were designated with the Bel Air name from 1950–1952, but it was not a distinct series of its own until...

 crashing head-on, 40% offset with a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu at 40 mph. The Bel Air's occupant compartment was extensively damaged by the crash, and the car did not have modern safety features such as airbags and seat belts. The driver dummy in the Bel Air recorded forces that would produce a fatal injury to a real driver. This car performed far worse than the 2nd generation GM minivans
GM U platform
The U-platform is a front wheel drive minivan and crossover SUV platform from General Motors produced since 1990. North American sales ended in 2009, but Chinese production continues. The minivans were divided into three generations, 1990-1996, 1997-2005 and 2005-current...

 that were the worst performers of all time in the IIHS offset test. The Malibu's occupant compartment remained intact and had advanced safety equipment that protected the driver from potential injury. The Malibu driver dummy recorded forces that would produce only a minor foot injury to a real driver.

Criticism

The IIHS has come under scrutiny on several occasions since the 1980s over what some consider unfair bias against certain vehicle types, namely some small pickups and certain types of motorcycles. Since the IIHS first-and-foremost represents the interests of the 80 insurance companies from which it receives its funding, critics such as the American Motorcyclist Association
American Motorcyclist Association
The American Motorcyclist Association is an American not-for-profit organization of more than 300,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights...

 have suggested that the IIHS sometimes seeks to influence legislation aimed at making insurance companies more profitable, rather than benefitting the public interest.

In 1980, the IIHS helped 60 Minutes produce a report slamming the Jeep CJ
Jeep CJ
The Willys CJ is a public version of the famous Willys Military Jeep from World War II.The first CJ prototype was introduced in 1944 by Willys, and the same basic vehicle stayed in production through seven variants and three corporate parents until 1986.A variant of the CJ is still in production...

 in which a superhumanly capable robot apparatus was used to put the vehicles through 435 unrealistic test runs to get eight rollovers.

The IIHS released a report in 2007 suggesting that certain types of motorcycles be either banned or restricted from use on public roads, specifically sport bike
Sport bike
A sport bike, also written as sportbike, is a motorcycle optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on paved roads, typically at the expense of comfort and fuel economy in comparison to less specialized motorcycles...

s, after lumping together several different types of non-sport motorbikes into makeshift categories, allegedly to skew the crash data in favor of its argument. The 2007 report mirrored a similar IIHS study released in 1987, which was claimed by the IIHS to be based on findings in the famous Hurt Report
Hurt Report
The Hurt Report was a motorcycle safety study conducted in the United States, initiated in 1976 and published in 1981. The report is named after its primary author, Professor Harry Hurt.Noted motorcycle journalist David L...

 motorcycle crash study, and which was used to influence U.S. Sen. John Danforth
John Danforth
John Claggett "Jack" Danforth is a former United States Ambassador to the United Nations and former Republican United States Senator from Missouri. He is an ordained Episcopal priest. Danforth is married to Sally D. Danforth and has five adult children.-Education and early career:Danforth was born...

 into proposing a law that would have mandated horsepower limits for bikes sold in America. Dr. Hugh H. "Harry" Hurt, Jr., the noted author of the Hurt Report, called the 1987 IIHS study "sloppy" and "fatally flawed".

Citing its similarities to the 1987 report, AMA called the 2007 IIHS report "... a bike classification shell game". An AMA news release stated: "We beat the IIHS sportbike ban [in 1987], and we even got Sen. Danforth on our side, saying that he recognized that the AMA had the constituent interest in motorcycle safety and that his IIHS-backed bill was a 'dead-end street.'".

Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations, said of the 2007 report: "This kind of flawed report, passed off as scientific research, has the potential to do great damage. At the very least, it can create false perceptions we’ll have to fight for years. And at worst, it could lead to restrictive laws that have no basis in reality.”

In the IIHS' annual reports on vehicle safety they frequently miscorrelate vehicle safety with the number of driver deaths each year. Their calculation of "Death Rate" selectively excludes the number of non-fatal crashes that occur; without this data, the actual likelihood of dying a crash is simply unknown. Nonetheless, the IIHS has used this method for 22 years to determine the safest vehicles.

See also

  • Crash test
    Crash test
    A crash test is a form of destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in crashworthiness and crash compatibility for various modes of transportation or related systems and components.- Types :...

  • Head injury criterion
    Head injury criterion
    The Head Injury Criterion is a measure of the likelihood of head injury arising from an impact. The HIC can be used to assess safety related to vehicles, personal protective gear, and sport equipment....

  • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
    National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, part of the Department of Transportation...

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