Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

             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. It also conducts research on road design and traffic regulations, and has been involved in promoting policy decisions. 

              Moderate overlap frontal test:

       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 test results can differ; for example, the NHTSA gave the Chevrolet Venture (also marketed as the Oldsmobile Silhouette and Pontiac 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.

An analysis by the IIHS found that a driver of a vehicle rated "Good" is 46% less likely to die in a frontal crash, compared with a driver in a "Poor" rated vehicle . A 33% reduction was found for drivers in an "Acceptable" or "Marginal" rated vehichile.

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".The Bel Air's occupant compartment was extensively damaged by the crash. Coupled with the car's lack of modern safety features such as airbags and seat belts, this resulted in the crash test dummy in the Bel Air recording forces that would have probably caused fatal injuries to a real driver. This car performed far worse than the 2nd generation GM minivans that were formerly the worst performers of all time[citation needed] in the IIHS offset test. The Malibu's occupant compartment remained intact and advanced safety equipment protected the driver from potentially serious injury. The Malibu's crash test dummy recorded forces that would produce only a minor foot injury to a real driver. IIHS released the first results for a second, more demanding frontal offset test.The new test, which is used in addition to the 40% offset test introduced,subjects only 25% of the front end of the vehicle to a 40 mph impact. The new test is far more demanding on the vehicle structure than the 40% offset test. In the first round of test, most vehicles did poorly; only three vehicles got "good" or "acceptable" ratings.

The rating system is similar to the 40% offset, but has some key differences: hip/thigh and lower leg/foot ratings replace individual ratings for each leg and foot, and full score cannot be attained without deployment of front and side curtain airbags (due to the severe side movement often resulting from this test).

A Medical College of Wisconsin study found small-overlap collisions result in increased head, chest, spine, hip, and pelvis injuries. This sort of collision is common on two-lane roads with two-way traffic where a center median is absent. Single vehicle crashes (into a tree or a pole) account for 40 percent of small-overlap crashes.According to the IIHS, 25% of frontal crash deaths are due to small overlap crashes, with the outer front wheel first to receive the impact forces rather than the more central crash absorbing structure.

 The occupant compartment collapsed badly, requiring the IIHS to cut out the driver's seat and pry the driver's legs free with a crowbar. The forces on the dummy's left leg were so strong that it would have taken luck for a real human experiencing such a crash to ever walk normally again. This has not been the case for any of the other tested vehicles. It received a "poor" rating for its performance. The occupant compartment collapsed badly, though not nearly as badly as in the Quest. A sharp metal edge that became exposed during the crash cut through the dummy's skin, indicating that it would have badly sliced a human's leg in such a crash. These twins also received a "poor" rating. Reportedly, the IIHS is also giving the now discontinued Volkswagen Routan a "Poor" rating due to the fact that it was based upon the same platform as the two Minivans mentioned above, and shares a crash structure with the two, although the IIHS has not tested the Routan.

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