The IIHS and NHTSA tests can differ wildly. For example, the NHTSA graded the Chevrolet Venture (also marketed as Oldsmobile Silhouette, Pontiac Montana/TransSport) as 4/5 stars, but the IIHS graded it "Poor" for its poor structural integrity which becomes apparent in the offset crash test. The same applies for the 1997-2003 Ford F-150.
The IIHS evaluates six individual categories assigning each a "Good", "Acceptable", "Marginal", or "Poor" rating before determining the vehicle's overall frontal impact score.
* 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. The IIHS demonstrated this crashing midsize sedans with three smaller Good rated compact sedans. All three compacts fared poorly and were scored Poor.[2]
Side Impact Test
Compared to the NHTSA test rig, which simulates the impact from the front end of a passenger car, the taller IIHS test rig simulates the impact of an SUV (approximately half of all new cars sold) into the side of the vehicle being tested. This is a very demanding test of both the vehicle's structural integrity and its restraint systems (airbags, seat belts, etc.). While most new vehicles achieve 4-5 stars from the NHTSA (where head injuries are not part of the rating), many do not score well in the IIHS side impact test.
The IIHS assigns the same "Good", "Acceptable", "Marginal", or "Poor" ratings to nine categories before deciding the vehicle's overall frontal impact score.
[edit] Rear Crash Protection/Head Restraint Ratings
This test uses the vehicle's seat in order to determine the effectiveness of the head restraints to measure injuries in the neck region.[3] Rear end collisions at low to moderate speeds typically don't result in serious injuries but they are common.[4]
[edit] Roof Strength Test
In the United States rollovers accounted for nearly 25% of passenger vehicle fatalities. Features such as electronic stability control are proven to significantly reduce rollovers and lane departure warning systems may also help. Rollover sensing side curtain airbags also help to minimize injuries in the event of a rollover.[5] In March 2009 the IIHS began testing the roof strength of vehicles on certain vehicles.
[edit] Top Safety Pick Award
The Top Safety Pick is an annual award to the safest cars of the year. In order to receive a Top Safety Pick the vehicle must receive "Good" overall marks in the front and side impact tests, as well as a "Good" overall rating based on the driver's seat head restraint design. Electronic Stability Control must also be at least optional. The winning vehicles for 2009 can be found here. Past winners can be found on the IIHS web site.[6]
[edit] Criticism
The IIHS has come under scrutiny on several occasions since the 1980s over what some consider unfair bias toward certain vehicle types, namely some small pickups and certain types of motorcycles. Since the IIHS first-and-foremost represents the interests of the 80 insurance companies from which it receives its funding, critics such as the American Motorcyclist Association have suggested that the IIHS sometimes seeks to influence legislation aimed at making insurance companies more profitable, rather than benefitting the public interest.[7]
In 1980, the IIHS helped 60 Minutes produce a report slamming the Jeep CJ in which a superhumanly capable robot apparatus was used to put the vehicles through 435 unrealistic test runs to get 8 rollovers.[8]
The IIHS released a report in 2007 suggesting that certain types of motorcycles be either banned or restricted from use on public roads, specifically sportbikes, after lumping together several different types of non-sport motorbikes into makeshift categories, allegedly to skew the crash data in favor of its argument. The 2007 report mirrored a similar IIHS study released in 1987, which was claimed by the IIHS to be based on findings in the famous Hurt Report motorcycle crash study, and which was used to influence U.S. Sen. John Danforth into proposing a law that would have mandated horsepower limits for bikes sold in America. Dr. Hugh H. (“Harry”) Hurt, Jr., the noted author of the Hurt Report, called the 1987 IIHS study "sloppy" and "fatally flawed".[9]
Citing its similarities to the 1987 report, AMA called the 2007 IIHS report "...a bike classification shell game". An AMA news release stated: "We beat the IIHS sportbike ban [in 1987], and we even got Sen. Danforth on our side, saying that he recognized that the AMA had the constituent interest in motorcycle safety and that his IIHS-backed bill was a 'dead-end street.'".[10]
Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations, said of the 2007 report: "This kind of flawed report, passed off as scientific research, has the potential to do great damage. At the very least, it can create false perceptions we’ll have to fight for years. And at worst, it could lead to restrictive laws that have no basis in reality.”
source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance_Institute_for_Highway_Safety
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
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