A Car Accident Attorney Explains What Factors Determine Safest Vehicles
Written by Cooper & Friedman PLLC on December 20, 2017
In the United States, a car’s safety rating is determined by the National Highway Traffic Administration or NHTSA. Every new car in the U.S. undergoes a series of crash tests by the NHTSA. The NHTSA’s findings are then published on their site SaferCar.gov where anyone can access the information. You’ve probably heard the phrase “five-star crash test rating” on the radio and on television during car commercials. What exactly does that phrase mean?
The Problem with a NHTSA Five-Star Rating According to a Car Accident Attorney
The NHTSA requires every car on American roads to meet certain criterion through a series of tests. However, it doesn’t allow consumers to see full comparative scores of vehicles in the same class. This means that while two cars may both have “five-star ratings,” one of them could be safer. However you have no idea which vehicle is the safer choice based on the information the NHTSA gives you. This is because, as a consumer, the information you have access to is restricted.
Other Car Safety Ratings A Car Accident Attorney Will Use
A car accident attorney will use the information supplied by the NHTSA along with a variety of other systems. This helps the attorney determine factors that could help their client’s case and may not be available from the single NHSTA source.
- The engineers at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety run “small overlap” front-end crash tests that the NHTSA does not include. The IIHS maximum rating only goes to cars that have crash-avoidance features as well as strong crash-test results.
- Check foreign car safety ratings using a wide variety of programs depending on where your car was manufactured. The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro
NCAP), Latin New Car Assessment Programme (Latin NCAP), New Car Assessment Japan (JNCAP), and Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) all have their own assessments on many of the same cars offered on the United States’ market. - Consumer Reports provide unbiased reviews as an independent, nonprofit organization. Founded in 1936, Consumer Reports provides “evidence-based product testing and ratings, rigorous research, hard-hitting investigative journalism, public education, and steadfast policy action on behalf of consumers’ interests.” Their vehicle recommendations combine car safety ratings from both the NHTSA and IIHS as well as case tests and rollover data found for a particular vehicle. They also provide advice on other vehicle safety devices and features.
With this wide variety of tools, a car accident attorney is able to determine if the safety rating of your vehicle had any impact on a recent collision. This information could be crucial to your case whether you are the victim of a car accident or the perpetrator.
An experienced car accident lawyer will tell you that anyone can be injured in any type of vehicle. However, you are statistically safer in a car that has a higher safety rating over all of these fields. If you need help recovering losses from serious injuries acquired from any type of vehicle accident that occurred in the State of Kentucky or in Southern, Indiana, contact the car accident lawyers at Cooper and Friedman by calling (502) 459-7555.