You've heard about vehicles boasting the honor of impressive safety ratings such as Top Safety Pick and 5-Star Safety Rating. What does it mean? What exactly do these ratings indicate? Our Laurel, MD Ourisman Mitsubishi Laurel breaks it down for you. Read on.
There are two main vehicle safety organizations whose ratings enjoy standard acceptance and respect across the auto industry: the Institute for Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The IIHS issues verbal ratings:
- Good+, Good, Acceptable, Marginal and Poor
- Top Safety Pick
- Top Safety Pick+
The NHTSA prefers star ratings ranging from one to five stars.
IIHS Safety TestsIIHS conducts no less than six evaluations for crashworthiness:
- Head restraints and seats
- Roof strength
- Side
- Passenger-side small overlap front
- Driver-side small overlap front
- Moderate overlap front
IIHS also evaluates the effectiveness of headlights, LATCH, and advanced performance safety features like automatic emergency braking.
NHTSA Safety TestsThe NHTSA performs some 90 to 125+ tests each year. The tests gauge performance in the following crash scenarios:
- Frontal crash test
- Side barrier crash test
- Side pole crash test
- Rollover resistance
- Static stability
Increasingly, tests also extend to driver assistance tech: forward collision, lane departure warning, AEB, etc. More stars equal safer cars.