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The itty-bitty 2012 Fiat 500 is proof yet again that size doesn't matter (Hey, that must be what it tells J-Lo!), as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) awarded the 2012 500 its "Top Safety Pick" award. The little Italian showed "good performance in front, side, rollover, and rear impact evaluations, and for having electronic stability control as standard equipment." More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5850879&view=rss&microfeed=true The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says it rolled the Ford F-150 and Toyota Tundra something fierce until each earned a "top safety pick." Nissan, GM and Chrysler marketers mumbled they don't care about no poncey safety grade anyways. More »
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In the first independent crash tests of mainstream all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt took top grades from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on all measures — in part because both outweigh other small cars. More »
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The guards on tractor-trailers designed to stop the back of a truck full of 20-gallon mayonnaise drums from decapitating you in a rear-end collision are often worthless even in crashes as slow as 35 mph, according to insurance industry tests. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5772889&view=rss&microfeed=true A record 66 vehicles made the IIHS list of 2011 top safety picks. [IIHS] More »
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Your insurance agent likely prefers you drive a Corvette instead of a Mitsubishi Lancer. That's because, according to the IIHS, Lancer owners report the highest relative insurance losses. Corvette owners? The lowest. Here are the ten biggest insurance losers. More »
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U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's fatwa against distracted driving could grow to include a ban on all in-car cellphone use and new tech automakers have already rolled out. Distracted driving is dumb; so are over-reaching regulations buffaloed into existence. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5659008&view=rss&microfeed=true U.S. auto safety officials unveiled toughened safety grades today. The downside? They won't get around to testing around 40% of 2011 models. [NHTSA] More »
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The Highway Loss Data Institute says texting bans in four states did not reduce crashes, and in three states crashes actually increased. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood erupted on his own blog labeling the report "misleading." More »
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The top auto safety expert for the nation's insurance companies says U.S. Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood is getting "irrational" about the dangers of distracted driving. His explanation: Texting and talking may just replace other bad driving habits, like reading newspapers. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5644967&view=rss&microfeed=true The 2011 Buick Regal gets an IIHS Top Safety Pick. The blue-haired, blinkers-always-on retiree crowd can now rejoice! [IIHS] More »
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The Ford Fiesta sedan/hatchback is the first minicar to earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award since the IIHS added a roof strength requirement for rollover protection. More »
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The Highway Loss Data Institute is out with new stats on which vehicles are most likely to be stolen. Bottom line? One out of every 100 Cadillac Escalades get stolen — and nobody steals the Toyota Prius. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5603183&view=rss&microfeed=true 2011 BMW 5 Series gets a "Good" rating by IIHS. Glad to see the added weight's being put to good use. [IIHS] More »
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The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee earned a top safety pick from the IIHS following their "midsize SUV" tests. Among others, they wrecked a Crosstour, Venza and Edge. Exciting vehicles? Other than the new Grand Cherokee, no. Exciting crashes? Hell yes! More »
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Thirty-five years ago, the U.S. government built a fleet of cars that were safer than anything on the road. Twenty-five years ago, the government shredded them in secret. Two escaped the crusher. This is their story. More »
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Small vehicles like the GEM e2 and Tiger minitruck advertise low cost and efficiency, but the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety thinks they shouldn't share the road with regular vehicles. Here's the dramatic test footage to back up their point. More »
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Toyota stamped their feet earlier claiming the IIHS Top Safety Pick awards were "extreme and misleading." Now, Russ Rader of the IIHS responds, saying, basically, Toyota can put its cars where its mouth is. More »
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Irv Miller, public affairs head of Toyota USA, just posted the automaker's official response to not receiving any 2010 IIHS Top Safety Pick awards. What's it say? The IIHS didn't test every Toyota and the new test is really hard. More »
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This year, people aren't thinking about buying a car the IIHS considers one of the 27 safest for 2010. They're thinking about pink slips, erectile dysfunction, and suicide. According to the IIHS, these people should buy Toyotas and BMWs. More »
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The IIHS has been on a crusade lately to expose automakers for the high price of repairs in low-speed crashes. Subaru's apparently paying attention, redesigning their 2010 Legacy's bumpers to jump from "poor" to "acceptable." Mission accomplished! More »
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So Crash Week has shuddered, crunched and rolled end-over-end to a close, just as the IIHS released high-res photos of the '59 Bel Air/'09 Malibu crash test that started it all. Let's look at the pics below and reflect. More »
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We pegged this week's "Crash Week" to the 50th anniversary of the IIHS, kicking off their birthday with a video of a 1959 Chevy crumpling into a 2009 Chevy. But some folks think the '59 smelled funny. They're wrong. More »
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The magnificent collision below, performed for the 50th anniversary of the IIHS, demonstrates how far car crash technology has come in 50 years. Now we're using it to announce next week's Jalopnik Crash Week! The video, plus an explanation, below. More »
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, never short of tests, put six mini/microcars to the roof strength test. The result? If you have to, you might be better off rolling a Smart Fortwo than flipping an Aveo. More »
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Both the 2010 Honda Insight and 2010 Toyota Prius earned top safety ratings from the IIHS, meaning neither can hold it over the other's head. The cheap Kia Soul, though, is probably going to do some boasting. More »
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The IIHS has performed another round of slow-speed bumper tests, this time demonstrating all mid-size sedans will cost you a pretty penny to repair in slow speed collisions. See how your favorite appliance auto did below. More »
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Microcars are often chosen for urban driving because they're affordable, fuel efficient and easy to park. With fender-benders the largest urban driving hazard, the IIHS tested bumpers on seven popular microcars, None earned top marks and five were rated "Poor." More »
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This morning's IIHS report on the shocking finding that little cars don't take well to colliding, at speed, with bigger cars? Now we have the crash videos. Let's take a look at all three below. More »
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This just in from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: Minicars like the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit and Smart ForTwo perform poorly in 40 MPH frontal oncoming crash tests. Also, water is wet. [Automotive News] More »
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The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety has retested the most popular small cars in America and the good news is they're getting safer. The bad news comes if you own a PT Cruiser. More »
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Those buzzkills over at the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety (IIHS) have indicated that they think the driving age should be raised in order to prevent deaths. The group points to lower fatality rates among teens in New Jersey, a state which doesn't grant full licenses to drivers until they're 18, compared to states with lower ages. As we pointed out in our guide to teenage driving rules, licensing guidelines vary from state-to-state and can include a variety of measures. Simply notching up the driving age seems a bit arbitrary, especially given other options. More »
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The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NAMBLA) is updating their star ranking system for vehicle safety for the first time since it was introduced in 1994. After 14 years of manufacturers designing for the ratings, along with advancements in active and passive safety systems, the scores had become meaningless — nearly every vehicle scored a four- or five-star ranking in 2007 (with a few notable exceptions). What's changing and when after the jump. More »
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) will today formally petition the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to consider bumper standards for light trucks which are more car-like. For the sake of argument, let's forget about that whole BlockerBeam system on Ford trucks, and how the difference in vehicle mass contributes to the damage as much as relative contact geometry. We also have to forget about retrofit diamond plate bumpers and grille guards, and lifted trucks too, but we're getting sidetracked by details. The core question is, "why would the IIHS be interested in seeing lower bumper standards on pickups and SUVs?" More »
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) today released their interpretation of what happens after crashing the new Dodge Caravan a few times. The results? The newer Caravan gets a "good" for both frontal offset and side impact tests, an improvement over "average" and "poor" performances for the older models. But unlike the new Kia/Hyundai minivans and the new Honda Odyssey, the Caravan only received a "marginal" grade for the rear crash test, the second lowest score. This means that, if you're running around in a new Grand Caravan you should keep your eyes on the rearview mirror. [IIHS via KickingTires] More »
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Although we've already seen the NHTSA crash tests and the leaked IIHS test video, the official Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) crash test results are finally in for the 2008 Smart ForTwo. It turns out the little bugger did pretty well. IIHS awarded the micro-machine its highest rating of "Good" for front and side crash protection, and an "Acceptable" rating for seat and head restraint performance in rear-end crashes. Mounting evidence like yesterday's Smart pinball challenge and this IIHS result is proving that yes, Joe American, the ForTwo is a real car that won't crumple like a tin can in a low-speed or mid-speed crash. Full results and crash images on page two. More »
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What to do with all of those cars smashed in federal and IIHS crash testing? In theory, you could take them back for further study to help improve safety for future vehicles. Of course, that would mean wasting an advertising opportunity. And while we prefer the RoboCop Taurus, we'll admit that showing a wrecked version of your car isn't the worst way to show off that the only major hazard that comes with driving a new Taurus is death-by-boredom. Press release after the jump. More »
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They of the smashed bumper over at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have announced their 2008 Top Safety Pick awards, and this year it comes in large pickup flavor! There were 34 top safety picks overall, including 11 new additions to the lineup. The first truck to make the list was the Toyota Tundra, which was beefed up with every safety feature Toyota could throw at it. Other notable additions include the Audi A3, Honda Element and Hyundai Veracruz. The full list and press release below the jump. More »
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This year, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (HIMOM) won't even think about naming a car to its top safety list if it doesn't have stability control. Going nannyless is a dealbreaker, says the agency, which is lobbying for a Federal mandate for automakers to put stability control on all cars by 2012. That 's bad juju for domestic automakers, which are somewhat behind the Europeans on offering stability control, arguably a top-down technology that's only just begun trickling into cars costing below $25,000. It's the ABS debate all over again — with insurance companies' Cole Haans again placed at the necks of carmakers and consumers. Oh, please protect us, you all-knowing beings of the actuarial tables, we are not worthy of your attention. – Mike Spinelli More »
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety apparently likes it like we do — releasing the results over the weekend of the 2006 side impact crashworthiness (we didn't even make that word up!) tests, and now we're treated to 75 articles in papers across the country all saying "Study: Side Air Bags Improve Safety." Well — umm — yeah, that's true, and thank you Associated Press for your hard work in making it clear to the whole world it's better to smack your head into a pillowy cushion of air than a piece of hard industra-plasti-vinyl with metal underneath. Geez. More »
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