Safer Cars Are Designed Better

Police Car Involved Too

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Bad statistics lead to misinformation.  Sweep ’em out. That’s what ought to be done with research “findings” based on misguided analyses of inappropriate data. This is the stuff to which British statesman Benjamin Disraeli referred, famously citing “lies, damned lies, and statistics” to bemoan the willy-nilly use of numbers.

Numbers can, and often are, used to “prove” just about any program or policy that anybody with an agenda wants to praise or discredit.  It’s an ongoing problem,  and the field of highway safety is no exception. A new report by former  Institute president Brian O’Neill and statistician Sergey Kyrychenko points to multiple examples of how motor vehicle death rates have been misinterpreted. These examples serve as powerful warnings of how not to use data.

Read the full article here, in PDF

 

Frontal Crash Improvements

Wrecked frontal view of a blue sedan

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Frontal offset crash tests conducted by the Institute since 1995 have prompted huge improvements in how vehicles protect people in frontal crashes. Now this consumer information program is undergoing a major change.

The Institute evaluates the crashworthiness of passenger vehicles based on 40 mph frontal offset crash  tests in which the driver side of the front of a vehicle strikes a deformable barrier. Read more . . .

Economy Vs Safety Tradeoff Given Current Poor Designs

Red car turned turtle

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Reducing fuel consumption is good conservation policy, good environmental policy, and in these times of rising gas prices it’s also good economic policy. The key is to find and apply methods that conserve fuel without putting people at greater risk in collisions because their more efficient vehicles aren’t as crashworthy.

The problem is that these choices have compromised safety. Smaller, lighter vehicles generally are less protective Read more . . .

Vehicle Height Incompatibility Dangers

Two cars crashed

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Mismatch of the front ends of the vehicles in this crash test is a problem.  The SUV’s front-end energy-absorbing structure rides of the car’s.  In a real crash, this could increase injury risks for the car occupants, which is why auto manufacturers have been committed since 2003 to designing the front ends of light trucks (SUVs and pickups) so their energy-absorbing structures overlap those of cars (see Status Report, Jan. 3, 2004; on the web at www.iihs.org).

“Compliance with these voluntary commitments already is making a difference, even Read more . . .

Safest Used Cars From 2006

Land Rover is total wreck

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For the first time ever, the Institute has chosen 10 cars, all 2006 models, that win Top Safety Pick awards. The awards recognize car designs that afford the best protection for people in front, side, and rear crashes, based on performance in Institute tests. The winning vehicles were chosen from among current models of small, midsize, and large cars plus minivans. Read more . . .