Car Safety Ratings Explained: What You Need to Know
When shopping for a new car, one of the most important — and often overlooked — factors is safety. Car safety ratings help drivers make informed decisions by providing insights into how well a vehicle protects its occupants in various crash scenarios. But what do these ratings really mean, and who conducts them? Let’s break it down.
Who Conducts Car Safety Tests?
There are two main organizations responsible for safety testing in the United States:
- NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) – Government agency that uses a 5-star rating system based on frontal, side, and rollover crashes.
- IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) – Independent nonprofit funded by the insurance industry. Uses a more detailed rating system with crashworthiness, crash avoidance, and headlight evaluations.