Cell phone bans, such as those recently recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board, have so far proven useless when it comes to actually reducing car crashes, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Five minivans have earned the top safety rating in a new survey of rollover crash protection, but models from Nissan and Kia fall short.
The Fiat 500, an ultra-tiny minicar sold by Chrysler dealers, has earned a "Top Safety Pick Award" from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The Nissan Leaf earned a top five-star rating in the federal government's new, tougher crash test rating system. Under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new rating system, all vehicles are given a single rating of one to five stars based on their scores in seperate front and side impact tests as well as resistance to rollovers.
Once feared for their dangerous rollover tendencies, high-riding SUVs are now much less likely to be involved in the deadly crashes than ordinary cars.
The Chevrolet Volt earned a top five-star rating in thee federal government's new, tougher crash test rating system. Under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new rating system, all vehicles are given a single rating of one to five stars encompassing front and side impact safety as well as resistance to rollovers.
The Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf plug-in cars both earned top scores in crash tests, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said Tuesday.
The good news is that booster seats are getting safer. The bad news is that there are still some seats out there that may not protect your child in a crash, a report released Wednesday showed.
The new Ford Fiesta was chosen as a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on Wednesday, becoming the first minicar to win the top rating since the group added a rollover test to its requirements.
Those tiny electric cars you sometimes see on the road may be cheap, they aren't very safe, new crash tests show.
There is no easy cure for teenage traffic deaths and injuries, but Susan Kessler believes she has at least come up with a way to help limit the carnage: When a new driver gets behind the wheel, just slap a temporary warning sign on the car.
American car buyers have been shifting away from larger vehicles, fearing higher gas prices, but they could be leaving themselves vulnerable in a crash, claims the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
You don't have to look too far into the past to find a time when automakers didn't see car safety as a "selling point." But over the last 30 years, car safety has become a prime factor in the minds of car buyers.
So you think junior is a little too lead-footed when he drives the family car? Starting next year, Ford Motor Co. will give you the power to do something about it
Four small sport utility vehicles received top scores in crash tests to be released Wednesday by the insurance industry, a sign of improvement compared with SUVs built earlier in the decade
Gotcha! That's how many motorists feel when they see a little bright flash, which they know means an unwelcome fine and points on their license are heading their way.
The ultra-tiny Smart ForTwo earned top marks in side and front crash tests, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said Wednesday. The two-seat car did not earn the Institute's Top Safety Pick designation, however, because it didn't earn top marks for whiplash protection.
Midsize SUVs are becoming safer, but side and rear impact crashes remain a weakness, according to recent testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
If every accident report filed with insurance agencies were true, America's roads would be a wild freak show of deer large enough to span four lanes and rockslides that toss boulders and trees into the path of traffic about every five minutes.
Every year, millions of dollars' worth of vehicles end up as masses of tangled sheet metal and twisted parts in crash tests across the country. Those tests have saved millions of lives since they began six decades ago.
Riders of supersport motorcycles have a death rate that's three times as high as the overall average for motorbikes, said a study Tuesday.
Luxury doesn't always buy complete car safety, according to a new report.
In tests designed to replicate low-speed impacts, the bumpers of several luxury cars failed to prevent costly damage. In one case, a Mercedes-Benz C-class sedan sustained almost $5,500 in damage when hit in its front bumper at a speed of just 6 miles per hour.
Two-thirds of pickups, vans and sport-utility vehicles don't provide acceptable protection against whiplash in rear-end collisions, according to tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
It used to be horsepower. Then it was fuel economy. Now there's another number making its way into the big print in car ads: the number of airbags.
New statistics released Thursday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show that, overall, driving has gotten much safer in the last 11 years.
Seat and head restraints in more than 60 percent of car models fall short of state-of-the-art protection for neck injuries and whiplash, a new study has found.
A new series of low-speed crash tests shows that fender benders can be wallet busters.
Ford's new Edge crossover SUV earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's "Top safety pick" award, getting top scores for front, side and rear impact safety.
The Nissan Versa got top marks in crash test results released Tuesday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, though bigger cars still offer greater safety than small cars, the Institute said.
Side-impact airbags, particularly those that protect occupants' heads, have a major live-saving effect, according to research released Thursday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
With better crash safety engineered into passenger vehicles and front airbags now required equipment, side impacts account for more driver deaths than frontal impacts in newer cars, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicates that crash deaths on American roads could be reduced by one third if all vehicles were equipped with the Electronic Stability Control.
When the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety first started performing its own front crash tests in the mid-1990s, about half the vehicles scored "Marginal" or "Poor."
Name a car, and there's at least one award that its maker can brag about winning from the Automotive Award-Giving Institute, or some such entity. Even respected vehicle-rating firms collectively be...
The safest minivan isn't made by Honda, Toyota or Chrysler, according to recently completed tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Korean-made Kia Sedona earned the Institute's "Gold Top Safety Pick" award, getting top marks for front crash, side crash and whiplash protection.
The Ford Fusion midsized sedan, introduced last fall, earned an "Acceptable" rating in front crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. While that is the second-best possible rating, only one other midsize car design currently on the market failed to get the top "Good" rating in the IIHS front-offset crash test.
The Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego, when equipped with optional side airbags, earned a Gold "Top Safety Pick" award for large cars from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Audi A6 was given the Silver award for large cars.
There's no question that teenagers, as a group, are frighteningly bad drivers. Mile-for-mile, teens wreck their cars four times as often as older drivers, according to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Two minivans with standard side airbags earned "Best pick" ratings in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's first side-impact crash tests on minivans. Two other minivans without side airbags were rated "Poor."
These days, auto companies tout their crash-test ratings and advanced safety features in ads because they think safety sells. But might they be better off hawking cruise control and a full-sized spare tire?
Mothers Against Drunk Driving's efforts have cut into legal, social drinking, according to comments by a trade group of restaurant owners in a newspaper report Thursday, but the group is winning praise from an insurance group.
Headrests in most minivans don't provide enough protection in the case of a rear-end crash, according to an insurance industry auto group.
Washington D.C. is considered deadlier for young motorists than any state, according to a recent survey.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave two large luxury cars its top safety ratings in front and side impact crash test results released Sunday.
A study released Tuesday said drivers who use cell phones -- even hands-free models -- are four times as likely to be involved in wrecks involving a serious injury than are drivers who do not use cell phones.
Eight large cars scored top ratings in frontal crash tests recently conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
When faced with a written test, similar to ones given to beginning drivers applying for licenses, one in ten drivers couldn't get a passing score, according to a study commissioned by GMAC Insurance.
After naming the Ford Focus as one of its recommended vehicles in March, then quickly dropping that recommendation following a "Poor" rating in a side-impact crash test, Consumer Reports magazine is now changing its system for rating cars.
The Federal crash-test program may understate rollover and side-impact risks, a newspaper report said Thursday, citing a government report.
The 2005 Volkswagen Jetta received the best score ever in a side-impact crash test performed by an insurance group.
Occupants of small cars and small and mid-sized SUVs are most likely to die in an auto accident, while those in large cars and minivans are the least likely, according to a study released Tuesday.
Few small, fuel-efficient cars performed even marginally well in side-impact crash tests conducted earlier this year by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The organization gave an acceptable rating to only two: Toyota Corolla and Chevrolet Cobalt.
Of 14 small cars involved in a test of side-impact crash safety, 12 received a rating of "Poor" from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Front crash tests on five small cars by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety yielded the first "Poor" rating given by the Institute since 2001.
IMAGINE: DRIVING A CAR MAY BECOME THE equivalent of writing a letter by hand--poetically nostalgic but not really necessary. Rather than actually drive, as General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz tol...
New standards for auto door latches could do more than save lives by keeping vehicle occupants inside during an accident -- they could signal a new global approach to improving safety, according to a published report.
Of eight midsized sedans tested for side impact protection, four earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's top rating of "good."
The difference in the height of bumpers between cars and sport/utility vehicles is responsible for significantly higher repair bills, according to a study from an insurance group.
Widely dispersed populations connected by narrow two-lane highways are a recipe for dangerous driving, according to a simple look at state-by-state traffic fatality counts as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In new crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the 2004 Toyota Rav4 became the first vehicle to earn a double "Best Pick" rating: one for side-impact safety and one for frontal-crash safety. It earned that rating, however, only when equipped with optional side air bags.
When you're choosing a new car, you've got to have priorities. You need performance. You need room to carry stuff. You need style. You need fuel economy. But there's one factor that should beat them all: safety.
Ten models of midsize sedans received a failing grade in a test simulating a side-impact crash with an SUV or pickup, according to results released Sunday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Of 13 midsized cars subjected to an insurance research agency's tough new side-impact crash test, only two protected occupants well enough to earn a "Good" rating.
Drive up in a Mini Cooper, and people's first reaction invariably is how cool and adorable it is. Second reaction: "Won't you be picking that thing out of a Hummer grille in an accident?"
Drive up in a Mini Cooper, and people's first reaction invariably is how cool and adorable it is. Second reaction: "Won't you be picking that thing out of a Hummer grille in an accident?"
How well a vehicle protects a dummy in a crash test closely reflects how well that same vehicle will protect a driver in an actual crash, according to a new report.
Unless you inhale two packs a day, getting in a car may be the biggest risk you regularly take. More than 42,000 people died on the nation's highways in 2001 (14% of them pedestrians and bicyclists...
We've told you how to make your car as safe as possible by doing maintenance and spotting trouble signs. But how does your car really measure up when it comes to safety? In the tables on pages 153 ...
Twenty years ago, U.S. auto industry executives, convinced that customers didn't really care about a car's safety record, were fond of saying "safety doesn't sell." What a difference two decades ma...
A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) examining the damage caused by sport utility vehicles and light trucks in accidents with other vehicles raises a big question for...
Valerie Howard believes in air bags. Last May she was driving alone from her home near Fort Lauderdale to her mother's when another driver ran a red light and smashed into the left front fender of ...
It seems as if every other TV commercial these days is for a car maker or an insurer touting the safety of air bags. Indeed, 60% of the 1992 models have driver-side air bags as standard equipment, ...
TWO YEARS AGO, WHEN Donna and Donald Vigliotti of Hamden, Conn. bought a new ( $17,000 Jeep Cherokee to complement their valiant but aging 1981 Subaru, they knew that their auto insurance costs wou...
THERE YOU ARE, cruising blissfully down the highway. The world treated you just super this particular day, and you are murmuring the lyrics of a beloved tune playing on the car radio. Then you glan...
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|