Do Vehicle Safety Ratings Minimize Injuries?

Working with any Richmond auto crash lawyer will spark questions that you probably haven’t considered. Your crash safety rating may play a role in your accident without you having realized it. That said, you should learn more about vehicle safety ratings and how they do have an impact on crashes and collision injuries.

After any wreck, you should get checked out by a doctor. No five-start safety rating can save you from a horrific accident.

Why Do Vehicle Safety Ratings Exist?

There are a few reasons why they exist. First, they allow the consumer to make educated purchases based on the safety of the vehicle. Second, they serve as a third-party evaluation for the vehicle’s safety features and abilities to withstand certain impacts. Finally, they provide an easy way to contrast vehicles with unchanging factors in play.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began evaluating safety in vehicles on the market back in 1966. Since then, they’ve created their 5-star system where the more stars mean the safer the vehicle.

Who Gives Vehicle Safety Ratings?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was definitely the first to start standardizing safety tests, but they’re not the only official that works, not this matter. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed up in 1959, but they’re not a government entity.

What they are is a complete third-party agency that evaluated safety on specific standards and then reports that information to both consumers and insurance companies. The five-star vehicle safety rating system that you hear about refers to the NHTSA, but you can always research the IIHS safety rating and review before purchasing a vehicle.

Together these two will test nearly every model of vehicle able to be driven on American roads. They provide insight into head-on collision damage, side-impact damages, and rear-end collision. But they look at other safety elements beyond the collision itself, such as roll-over rate, and occupant protection devices like airbags.

While the NHTSA has its famous 5-star system, the IIHS uses a four-tier system that ranks vehicle safety as good, acceptable, marginal, and poor. Reasonably you don’t want a poor ranking vehicle. Most cars rank as acceptable, and every year they publish a list of their top picks.

Surprisingly the IIHS top safety picks don’t often represent the most frequently sold vehicles in the U.S. What happens often is that the NHTSA rating is what manufacturers will market and then if the IIHS doesn’t quite match up they’ll just casually avoid mentioning it.

These two agencies don’t have any affiliation with any of the vehicle manufacturers and don’t necessarily owe anything to them. That makes it a reliable system for consumers.

Car Crash Protection Features Could Impact Your Injuries

An airbag could save a life, and a seatbelt might give you a vicious rash; it can help keep you within the vehicle rather than being projected through the windshield. Car crash protection features, however, also include basic engineering. The shape, design, and materials used in construction are all made with safety in mind.

After a wreck, it may look like your car is nothing more than a crushed soda can. When that’s the case, and you were able to walk away with your life, it’s fairly amazing. Tons of metal crumpled, and the person inside survives. However, that doesn’t mean that you’re without any injuries.

A bad car wreck will likely still leave you with injuries, and on occasion, those injuries could be tied to the vehicle itself. Loss of limb is often associated with how metal or the plastic bends, bows, and breaks. These elements are all tested by the IIHS and the NHTSA during their impact tests.

After a Wreck Should You Contact an Accident Attorney in Richmond?

When you’re ready to reach out to a local accident attorney in Richmond, VA at Virginia Injury Law, we aim to give full legal service to the victims of accidents and help them get financial payback for the bills and hardship that came from their crash. Your crash is unique, and those differences can have a substantial role in your resolution.

If your vehicle was armed with a five-star safety rating, but key safety features failed to protect you, then you may have another case on your hands. The goal of vehicle safety ratings is to provide a full scope of features so consumers can make an informed purchase on the safety of the vehicle. When those features don’t work, and your crash is worsened, then you may need to pursue legal action against the manufacturer as well. Call our Richmond car wreck law firm today for help.