Vehicle Safety Ratings Explained
First of all, you should understand that your car, truck or SUV may have up to two different ratings, or in some cases, no rating at all. The reason for this is because there are two agencies that do the testing:
–National Highway Transportation Safety Association(NHTSA)
–The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety(IIHS)
Unfortunately, even with two agencies, not every model gets tested. Also, NHTSA and IIHS have different testing and rating systems in place. They’re not made to compete against each other, but some do prefer one rating over another. At Auto Credit Express, if your vehicle does have a rating from each company, compare them to get a better understanding of the safety it has to offer you and your loved ones.
NHTSA Ratings:
Using a star ratings system, the NHTSA rates vehicles based on the likelihood of a serious injury – any injury that requires immediate attention or can be life threatening. Bruises and scratches don’t count.
Five Stars – 0 – 10% chance of serious injury/death
Four Stars – 11-20% chance of serious injury/death
Three Stars – 21-35% chance of serious injury/death
Two Stars – 36-45% chance of serious injury/death
One Star – 46% or greater chance of serious injury/death
Not only are the scores different, NHTSA also handles some of their tests in different ways once again giving you a broad definition of your vehicles safety.
IIHS Ratings:
Using a more straightforward rating system, the IIHS scores do not relate to bodily injury but so instead focuses on the structural integrity of the vehicle.
Good – 46% less likely to die compared to Poor.
Acceptable or Marginal – 33% less likely to die compared to Poor.
Poor – Chances of death are high in the event of a crash.
Again, IIHS does their testing differently and also tests a couple of areas that NHTSA does not such as the moderate overlap front crash test or rankings for front crash prevention systems. Overall, the IIHS wants to find the safest vehicles with the lowest cost repairs. As we see it, trying to figure out how safe your vehicle is can leave you scratching your head sometimes. Now when you plan for buying a new car, check the safety ratings first.
