NHTSA vs IIHS Crash Test Results

[Whatchamacallit]

Nice Yahoo article (by Consumer Reports) about how some vehicles do well in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Full Frontal Crash test but the same vehicles score poorly in Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Offset Frontal Crash test.

It goes on to explain how Consumer Reports places more weight on IIHS's Offset tests since it better replicates a more common type of accident.

http://autos.yahoo.com/consumerreports/crashtests.html

"When Crash Tests Collide

Sometimes a vehicle scores well in the government's annual New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and not so well in the frontal-offset-crash test conducted by the insurance industry. Those in the chart below are among the 90 or so 2002 models for which both sets of data are available. All were awarded four or five stars for the driver and front passenger in the NCAP full-frontal-crash test, equating to a 20 percent or less chance of serious injury in a collision, NHTSA estimates. Yet their Poor ratings in tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) indicate that the driver would likely suffer serious injury.
"When we design a vehicle, we design it to do well in the real world. No single test can tell you everything," says a Ford spokesman referring to the F-150 pickup's Poor score in the IIHS offset-frontal-crash test. "We also have a question as to the weight at which the IIHS crushable barrier remains effective for trucks," the spokesman adds. Brian O'Neill, IIHS president, acknowledges that the offset test is tougher on heavier vehicles, which crush the barrier earlier than lighter ones, but says the test is just as tough on other trucks. "We're comparing the Ford F-150 with vehicles like the Toyota Tundra pickup, which weighs about the same as the F-150 yet showed minimal intrusion," says O'Neill. However, while the Tundra received a Good in the IIHS offset-frontal-crash test (the Institute's highest rating), it got just three stars for the driver and passenger in NHTSA's full-frontal test, a mediocre performance.

The crash-protection rating in Consumer Reports Safety Assessments, places more weight on the IIHS's offset tests, which measure how much a vehicle's structure is likely to intrude on the driver in an accident. We believe that the offset crash is a more common type of frontal crash and that the IIHS scores help differentiate one model from another. Unlike NHTSA's frontal-crash test, however, the IIHS's doesn't address how the front passenger might fare in a crash. Safety experts assert that NHTSA's test better gauges a vehicle's restraints. That's why both types of frontal test are critical, and why the government should conduct both. That would put all safety testing under an independent agency (NHTSA) and the results in one place."

[larchmont]

Good stuff!
Of course we're interested in all the results and we like to see them all be good, but it's important to realize which ones are more important than others.

BTW we all should be aware that these IIHS tests that they're talking about are completely different from the IIHS bumper tests we were talking about lately.
(I assume this is right??)

[Whatchamacallit]

Originally posted by larchmont
BTW we all should be aware that these IIHS tests that they're talking about are completely different from the IIHS bumper tests we were talking about lately.
(I assume this is right??)

Yes, you are correct. Earlier on, I also misunderstood the IIHS bumper tests as the IIHS offset crash tests. These are 2 completely different tests.

The IIHS performs 3 different types of crash tests (and also determines head restraint ratings). The 3 crash tests are:
IIHS frontal offset crash test (at 40 MPH)
IIHS side impact crash test (at 31 MPH)
IIHS low speed crash test (5 MPH bumper test)

http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ratings.htm