|
Rating Categories
 |
Good protection
from serious injury |
 |
Acceptable
protection from serious injury |
 |
Marginal
protection from serious injury |
 |
Poor
protection from serious injury |
In the Institute's 40 mph
offset test, 40 percent of the total width of each vehicle strikes
a barrier on the driver side. The barrier's deformable face is
made of aluminum honeycomb, which makes the forces in the test
similar to those involved in a frontal offset crash between two
vehicles of the same weight, each going just less than 40 mph.
This means test results can be compared only among vehicles of
similar weight. Like full-width crash test results, the results
of offset tests cannot be used to compare vehicle performance
across weight classes.
For more information on offset
crash tests please read the following research paper written by
Australian safety expert Michael Paine:
"Offset Crash Tests"
Head Restraints -
Headrests
are supposed to provide protection against whiplash in rear-end
collisions. In reality most headrests provide little to no protection.
European automobiles rate far better than domestic or Asian models
in this area (see the IIHS
Website for
head restraint ratings for vehicles sold in the US).
The US DOT required their installation in 1967, but haven't
provided updated modern standards for their successful implementation.
An effective headrest is directly behind the centerline of the
head and positioned no more than a couple of inches away.
|
