All Those Stars Make Me See Stars

The goal of vehicular travel: get from point A to point B safely and efficiently (i.e. NOT down East McMurray Road past Center Church recently—geesh what a mess).

But what does ‘safety’ mean in the eyes of a consumer, manufacturer, government agency, or insurer? All definitions are different and measured differently, but all with the same goal: when there is the threat of an impact, how will the vehicle respond? I’ll save proactive safety systems for my next blog post and I’ll tackle the elusive star ratings here.

There are two groups out there with popular vehicle crash test ratings. The first is the National Highway Traffic and Safety Association. As part of the Department of Transportation under the Executive Branch (if you aren’t up on your government structure, I’ll give you a minute to consult your high schooler’s left over textbook or Wikipedia. Okay, are we all together now?) The NHTSA’s self described mission is “Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes.”

NHTSA designates all ratings in number of ‘stars’ with five being the best—like restaurants and hotels, isn’t it nice that one thing is life can be standardized? Click here for the link to NHTSA’s safety results search page. Starting with 2011 models, NHTSA introduced tougher testing and more rigorous 5-Star Safety rating criteria that provide better and more information about a vehicle. Ratings for 2011 and newer vehicles are different than earlier models and should not be directly compared.

Also—you should only compare similarly sized and weighted vehicles. Every year, the folks at the NHTSA publish crash test results on their website www.safercar.gov. For 2012 model year, NHTSA tested 74 vehicles: 42 passenger cars, 22 sport-utilities, two vans, and eight pickups. The agency does not test every vehicle on the market but those 74 vehicles make up about 81 percent of 2012 model year vehicles sold in the United States Rollover testing of those vehicles provides information on 92 percent of 2012 models.

NHTSA tests frontal impact, side impact, rollover resistance, and also provide an overall score as well as information about other standard safety features. The other reputable raters are the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). While this group is a private nonprofit, automobile insurance companies and associates fund them. Yep, the same people who insure your car pay this group to research it. You can bet this information isn’t just for your convenience but also influences your rates. The IIHS conducts its own testing and issues its own ratings separate from the NHTSA.

However, like the NHTSA, the IIHS does not test all vehicles on the market and chooses to focus on the volume sellers. The IIHS is a bit more progressive in its choices and in 2011 made a point to test an all electric and a plug-in hybrid vehicle. The IIHS ratings page (click here) lists the 2012 models chosen as ‘Top Safety Pick’—their equivalent of ‘5 stars.'

The Institute rates vehicles as good, acceptable, marginal, or poor in four categories: high speed front and side crash, rollover, seat/head restraints in rear impact collisions. To earn ‘Top Safety Pick’ a vehicle must rate as ‘good’ in all four categories.

I really hope this helps someone muddle though the vast amounts of safety information out there. All these stars and rates can make you see stars when shopping for a new car but it is all great information worth at least a glance. Please consider these things when new car shopping and not just options, paint color, and sunroofs. Vehicles sure can be pretty but we need to remember our precious cargo first.