Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released its top safety picks for 2020. The 64 winners earned good ratings in six crash tests, have good or acceptable headlights, and front-crash prevention that earned advanced or superior ratings in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian tests. No minivans or pickups qualified for awards. View all of the award winners here.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says in a new report that safer restraint systems are needed for the back seats of cars. The study finds that rear-seat safety has not kept pace with front-seat safety and it has been to the detriment of belted passengers in the back seat. The study looked at 117 front crashes that resulted in...

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently crash-tested a number of pickup trucks for passenger side safety. Consumer Reporter Susan Hogan has the results.

New crash tests show pickups with some of the oldest designs could struggle to protect passengers riding in the front seat. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tested 11 mid-size and full-size pickups and found mixed results. “In general, the pickup truck class of vehicles is not doing as good a job protecting right front passengers as other classes...

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s crash tests aren’t just about alerting you to how vehicles perform; they’re leading to changes in the way cars are built. Consumer Reporter Susan Hogan recently traveled to the test facility near Charlottesville for an up close look at a new test being run to keep you safe in a crash.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released its safe car rankings for 2019, and there are a lot of cars on the list. Susan Hogan reports.

A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that headlights on nearly half of 2018 model cars tested by the group do not adequately light the road, and most “good-rated” headlights only come with optional packages or an upgraded trim. According to the IIHS, out of 424 headlight possibilities across trims on 2018 models tested by the...

Testing by AAA shows that electronic driver assist systems on the road today may not keep vehicles in their lanes or spot stationary objects in time to avoid a crash. The tests brought a warning from the auto club that drivers shouldn’t think that the systems make their vehicles self-driving, and that they should always be ready to take control....

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety just released its list of the best choices for new drivers. Consumer Reporter Susan Hogan has the details that can help keep your teen safe behind the wheel.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released new crash ratings for minivans.

Two midsize SUVs received a “poor” rating in the latest round of crash tests, the lowest safety rating that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issues. Both the 2018 Ford Explorer and 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee received “poor” grades because of their inability to prevent injuries to the front passenger during a front-end collision with an object or another car...

For years, Tesla has boasted that its cars and SUVs are safer than other vehicles on the roads, and CEO Elon Musk doubled down on the claims in a series of tweets this week. The electric vehicles are under intense scrutiny from federal investigators, who have been looking into post-crash battery fires and the performance of Tesla’s Autopilot semi-autonomous driving...

New ratings released Wednesday for seven small SUVs reveal surprising results, with some models ranking poorly in crash tests.

The head of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says the results of its crash tests are good news for drivers. Consumer Reporter Susan Hogan has the details.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has developed a new crash test program to address passenger-side airbag systems. Automobile manufacturers were not prioritizing the safety of front-seat passengers as much as drivers. Going forward, a good or acceptable passenger-side rating will be required to qualify for the Institute’s 2018 Top Safety Pick award. The new, small overlap front crash test...

Safety systems to prevent cars from drifting into another lane or that warn drivers of vehicles in their blind spots are beginning to live up to their potential to reduce crashes significantly, according to two studies released Wednesday. At the same time, research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety raises concern that drivers may be less vigilant when relying...

A new report shows more Americans are getting in the back seat of a car without buckling up.

After three months as the nation’s most valuable automaker, a bad week in an otherwise stellar year has knocked Tesla from the top perch as the nation’s most valuable automaker. Tesla’s growth remains stellar, with shares soaring close to 50 percent this year, twice that at General Motors Co., which retook the spot Thursday. Ford Motor Co. has actually fallen...

A recent insurance study links increased car crash claims to legalized recreational marijuana. The Highway Loss Data Institute, a leading insurance research group, said in study results released Thursday that collision claims in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon went up 2.7 percent in the years since legal recreational marijuana sales began when compared with surrounding states. Legal recreational pot sales in...

More than half of the midsize SUVs tested by an insurance industry group were found to have unsafe headlights that did not light up the road far enough or caused glare for oncoming drivers. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said Tuesday that it tested 37 midsize SUVs and only two received a “good” rating: the 2017 Volvo XC60 and...