Car Safety Ratings and How They Work

Although safety ratings may not be the first concern for some car buyers, it's often the top consideration when shopping for a family vehicle. The way a car performs in a wreck is serious business and can mean everything to your family in surviving a crash. Carmakers have made great strides in engineering safety into today's new cars. However, third-party nonprofit watchdogs, like the federal government and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), continually redefine what is safe through evolving crash tests.

To get a handle on which cars, trucks, and SUVs are the safest, you must not only discover a vehicle's test scores but also understand them. Every year, millions of dollars are invested in crash testing and other safety tests, rating the dependability of different vehicle models in crashes. Some tests are as basic as running a vehicle into a concrete wall, while others require meticulous measurements, attention to detail, and scientific disciplines.

As you read on, we will explain in more detail who awards crash-test and safety ratings, precisely what they test, and what the scores mean.

Safety ratings are the scores the IIHS and the United States government, through its National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), give to vehicles. They award the scores after putting cars through a battery of crash and safety tests. You may be more familiar with the government's tests. The scores appear on every new car's Monroney label (window price sticker). Therefore, you might have seen the scores on the labels expressed as stars.

NHTSA administers and scores three crash tests and a Rollover Resistance Test. Depending on how a vehicle performs, NHTSA awards from one star (least safe) to five stars (most safe) for each test and an overall score. For obvious reasons, it's called the 5-Star Safety Ratings Program.

The IIHS performs several crash tests on vehicles. However, for the most part, they are different from those of NHTSA. Think of them as complementary to the NHTSA tests. Moreover, the IIHS rates safety-related features like forward collision warning systems, headlight effectiveness, and more. We won't trek too far into the weeds on the supplemental testing; however, it does come into play for the IIHS Top Safety Pick (TSP) and Top Safety Pick+ (TSP+) awards. More about those later.

Rather than the U.S. government's 5-Star Safety Ratings Program, the IIHS separates the results into Good, Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor scores. The IIHS awards a score for each test but not a combined overall score. They also score different specifics within the test. For example, in the Small Overlap Front: driver-side, the IIHS also scores the safety cage and each driver injury measure.

One more note: The IIHS is in an evolutionary period. Some tests are changing, and others are going away. The criteria for determining the TSP and TSP+ lists are evolving as well.

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Small Overlap Front: driver-side – Measuring the results of a crash on the front left corner of the test vehicle, it runs into a barrier (representing a tree or power pole) at 40 mph. An adult-size dummy in the driver's seat is evaluated for head, neck, chest, hip, thigh, lower leg, and foot injuries.

Small Overlap Front: passenger-side – Like the driver-side test, this crash measures the effects of a crash on the right front corner. However, this test evaluates the injuries on dummies in the driver and passenger seats.

Moderate Overlap Front: original test – As the original IIHS frontal crash test, it represents the results of an offset frontal crash between two vehicles. Engineers crash a car traveling 40 mph into a barrier with a deformable aluminum honeycomb face. In this scenario, 40% of the vehicle face strikes the barrier. An adult-size dummy sits in the driver's seat, with a smaller dummy representing a 12-year-old child in the seat directly behind the driver. The injury evaluation involves both dummies.

Side: original test – On its way to being replaced by the IIHS’ Side updated test, the original test employs a rolling 3,300-pound barrier with a honeycombed face located at the height of the average SUV. It rams the driver's side of the test vehicle at the side doors at a speed of 31 mph. The test evaluates an adult-size dummy in the driver's seat and a 12-year-old child-size dummy in the seat behind for injuries. Those injuries are head, neck, torso, pelvis, and leg.

Side: updated test – The IIHS has slated this updated test will eventually be its side-test standard. Using a heavier (4,200 pounds) but lower ram, engineers crash it into the driver's side of the test vehicle at 37 mph. Similar to the original test, the updated test uses two dummies in the front and rear driver's side seating positions to evaluate head, neck, torso, and pelvis injuries.

The IIHS evaluates several other vehicle components and systems in determining overall safety. For 2023, the IIHS eliminated ratings for roof strength, head restraints, and vehicle-to-vehicle front-collision avoidance.

In the area of front-crash protection, the IIHS scores vehicles for how well the frontal-crash-avoidance systems perform. Here are two tests for each category: 12 mph and 25 mph. Scoring here is Superior, Advanced, and Basic.

The IIHS also performs a headlight evaluation. Using a scoring system of Good, Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor, they test headlight intensity and reach in different scenarios.

Also, using the Good-to-Poor scores, the IIHS evaluates seatbelt reminder alerts for front- and rear-seat positions. Sound level, pitch, and duration are some of the measured functions.

Finally, the IIHS evaluates the LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) child-seat-tether systems in vehicles. Location, accessibility of lower anchors, ease of use, and more enter into the evaluation.

RELATED: Best Vehicles to Comfortably Fit Three Car Seats Across

In 2006, the IIHS introduced its Top Safety Pick award, followed by its Top Safety Pick+ in 2013. Vehicles appearing on these two annual lists are the IIHS picks as the top safety performers. To be named to either list for 2023, a car must have the following:

Moreover, to earn the TSP+ rating, a vehicle must also receive a score of Superior or Advanced for the nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian collision avoidance evaluations. Additionally, the Good or Acceptable headlight ratings must be for the standard equipment lights on all trim levels. (To qualify for TSP, Good or Acceptable headlights must be available as an option.)

If you shop for a new or used car, you can find the NHTSA's ratings on the Monroney label, or window sticker. Otherwise, check out NHTSA and IIHS websites for ratings.

When shopping for cars with a high degree of safety, our advice is to buy all of the advanced safety technology you can afford. You can find a lot of it available, including high-beam assist, lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, front-rear park assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and more.

Let's face it; your budget will have much to do with the car you pick. Consequently, you need to maximize every dollar you spend. Achieving that goal requires some soul-searching on your part. Before you begin fantasizing about the secondary features like sound system, leather seating, and so forth, you must meet your needs. Needs should always trump wants, especially if you are on a budget.

No matter a vehicle's safety rating or the volume of advanced safety features, the key safety component is the driver. Some safety tech can help prevent crashes, and some can lessen crash severity, but the most effective influence on safety is avoiding dangerous situations altogether.

Two nonprofit organizations issue safety ratings based on crash testing to score how the vehicles hold up in a crash. They are the IIHS and the government's NHTSA.

The IIHS is more comprehensive in its testing; however, the battery of tests each performs complement one another.

Although no one can guarantee the safety of any car, those with an overall NHTSA safety rating of five stars and a top rating of Good for the battery of IIHS tests are relatively safer than lower-scoring cars.

You can find NHTSA car safety ratings on the vehicle's window sticker or Monroney Label, or the pricing window sticker that, by law, must be posted on every new car. It includes the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), standard content, any extra-cost options, NHTSA safety ratings, and information regarding the country where assembled. You can research IIHS information online to see which cars received the organization's highest safety ratings.

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