New IIHS Safety Test Could Prevent Green Bay Car Accident Fatalities

You may have heard that there are new car safety tests. What do these tests mean to you if you are involved in a Green Bay car wreck?

Each year, about 10,000 people are killed in head-on car crashes in the United States. Only about two percent of motor vehicle collisions are front-impact accidents, yet they account for about ten percent of all Wisconsin traffic deaths. Because front-impact crashes are so dangerous, many safety features are designed to protect occupants during a head-on collision.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has performed frontal impact safety tests since 1995. At first, cars didn’t do so well. But, the results of the tests spurred manufacturers to come up with safer designs. Now most cars perform well on these tests.

However, people are still dying too often in front impact crashes. Researchers at the IIHS wondered why. They found that in nearly one-quarter of head-on accidents, only a corner of the car is involved. 

Safety features are usually designed to protect occupants during a full impact. When only a corner of the vehicle hits another vehicle or a stationary object like a telephone pole, the physics of the crash are different. The impact of the accident is not absorbed by the car’s crumple zones, and in many cases the airbags can fail to deploy or won’t deploy enough to provide adequate protection. The occupants of the vehicle are put at an increased risk of serious injury.

So the IIHS added a new test.  Eleven midsize cars were evaluated using the new "small overlap frontal crash test." Two earned a "Good" rating. One received an "Acceptable" rating.  The rest failed.

In 1995, more than half of the cars tested failed the first front impact safety test. Now, almost all pass. The IIHS believe that car manufacturers will change their designs to keep more motorists safe.

One day, cars will be able to protect us from most Wisconsin car accident injuries. Until then, the Green Bay accident lawyers at Hupy and Abraham are dedicated to helping car accident victims get the accountability and compensation they deserve. To learn more, contact Hupy and Abraham at 800-800-5678.