Record nine Models Have Zero Driver Deaths, IIHS Says
by The Detroit Bureau
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The highway death toll has been plunging rapidly in latest years, and safety experts are crediting a number of factors, including improved roadways and a crackdown on tipsy driving. But a fresh explore puts the spotlight on vehicle design and improved technology for both preventing crashes and keeping motorists alive when they do occur.
A record total of nine models sold during the two thousand eleven model-year have had a death rate of zero, meaning no driver was killed in a crash involving those vehicles during the period studied by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. IIHS released a report on the findings Thursday.
Significantly, these are not ultra-exotic products. They include mainstream models like the Honda Odyssey minivan and Subaru Legacy sedan, as well as the big Mercedes-Benz GL SUV.
“We know from our vehicle ratings program that crash test spectacle has been getting steadily better. These latest death rates provide fresh confirmation that real-world outcomes are improving, too,” said IIHS vice president and chief research officer David Zuby.
“We know from our vehicle ratings program that crash test spectacle has been getting steadily better. These latest death rates provide fresh confirmation that real-world outcomes are improving, too.”
The nine vehicles are:
- Audi A4 4WD
- Honday Odyssey
- Kia Sorento 2WD
- Lexus RX three hundred fifty 4WD
- Mercedes-Benz GL-Class 4WD
- Subaru Legacy 4WD
- Toyota Highlander hybrid 4WD
- Toyota Sequioa 4WD
- Volvo XC90 4WD
On the entire, the insurance industry research group’s investigate shows that today’s cars, trucks and crossovers are getting safer. Had vehicles not undergone major improvements over the previous quarter century, estimated the IIHS, there would have been 7,700 more fatalities in just the year 2012.
Part of the reason is improved crash-worthiness. Since the IIHS introduced the rough fresh petite offset crash test several years ago, a growing number of vehicles have begun passing. That’s significant because the test is meant to replicate what happens when two cars clip one another going in opposite directions, or when a vehicle hits a pole or other petite, stationary object.
IIHS Vice President Russ Rader also said that fresh safety technologies, such as forward collision warning, have been playing a crucial role. The objective is to prevent crashes in the very first place.
Death toll drops
Rader also said the examine emerges to support the long-term purpose of safety advocates who hope to see overall deaths drop to zero in the years ahead. That might have seemed unthinkable just a few decades ago, when more than 50,000 Americans were being killed on the roads each year. But the death toll has since dropped by almost forty percent.
Volvo –- whose XC90 was among the nine vehicles cited by the IIHS –- has set a corporate aim of having no one die in a crash of one of its fresh products by the two thousand twenty model-year.
While that may be difficult to achieve across the industry, the fresh investigate shows that among two thousand eleven models, there were twenty eight driver deaths per million registered vehicle miles, down from forty eight in two thousand eight and two thousand nine models. A registered vehicle year means a vehicle that has been registered and in use for one year.
“This is a phat improvement,” said IIHS research chief Zuby.
The IIHS examine also exposes a broad gap inbetween the best and worst vehicles on the road. A total of nineteen models sold during the two thousand eleven model-year had driver death rates of five or less. But the nineteen worst vehicles had rates of forty six or more. At the bottom was the Kia Rio, which had an overall death rate of 149, followed by the Nissan Versa sedan, at 130.
The list of the most deadly models was packed with compact and subcompact products, but several large models were also included. The Chevrolet Chevrolet Silverado Team Cab 4WD had an overall death rate of 79, while the full-size Mercury Grand Marquis sedan had a death rate of 67.
Updates since 2011
Notably, some manufacturers had products at both the top and bottom of the list. While the Honda Odyssey minivan was among the nine models with a zero fatality rate, the IIHS probe found the 2-door version of the puny Civic had a death rate of 76, while the four-door Civic came in at 49.
While the explore focused on products from the two thousand eleven model-year, a number of the vehicles included in the report have undergone significant updates since then, often achieving major improvements in IIHS tests. The Toyota Prius, for example, was one of the worst in the petite offset crash test when it was introduced. An updated version of the Prius recently received one of the top scores.
“The finish elimination of traffic deaths is still many decades away, and, along with vehicle improvements, getting there will require switches in road design and public policy that can help protect all road users,” Zuby says. “Still, the rise in the number of vehicles with zero driver deaths shows what’s possible.”
(Updates story to clarify that the probe focused on driver deaths.)