What factors determine car safety ratings ?
Even if having a higher car safety rating means safer when it comes to collision, there are still important risks involve in any kind of car accidents. There are some things you have to put in mind regarding car safety ratings. Furthermore, knowing certain car safety rating agencies’ methodologies would provide car owners with additional information.
A car rating is determined on how well vehicles do in a crash test. The most important factor in determining the car safety rating is the condition of the driver as well as the passenger after a certain vehicle accident. These tests are performed repeatedly in all directions and different speed. The vehicles are tested under same condition to come up with a uniform system car safety rating that can easily be compared across the industry.
There are numerous factors that will help increase the car’s safety ratings such as collapsible steering columns, crumple zones, reinforced door frames, air bags on both front and side, and seatbelts that works in accordance with the air bags. These safety systems are all checked on the test and if all these car safety features worked in their full performance, the safety ratings will be quite high.
Even if there is an international standard regarding car safety rating, it still varies on the countries. Each country has its own agency that will handle car safety ratings. In the United States, there are two agencies handling car safety ratings, one is the (NHTSA) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration who uses that five-star system, with five as the highest rating. The second agency is the (IIHS) Insurance Institute of Highway Safety with vehicle rating from poor, marginal acceptable and good.
The three types of crashes are the frontal impact, side impact and the rollover. IHHS does not perform all three crashes and they mainly focus on frontal impact, which they use to determine how much damage it would cause a car and estimates the cost for the insurance companies and drivers.
