Two major research bodies plan to advance the car insurance plan. If the plans of safety ratings take effect car owners may soon find it more difficult to get cheaper insurance. Tougher safety ratings can have negative effects on most car models’ assessment, since auto insurance company’s premiums largely on risk.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety or IIHS is the insurance industry’s main safety research arm. It is responsible for setting the safety standards and for testing how safe cars. Insurance providers rely heavily on the findings of the IIHS. Presently, the institute’s rating system has three major levels, “good”, “acceptable”, and “marginal”. Apart from the ratings, from many vehicle types and brands, the IIHS also selects its “top safety pick” that researchers believe are among the safest cars in production.
However, when it comes to roof strength, the IIHS has lately announced that it would not grant vehicles with less than the “good” rating with the “top safety pick” honor. The importance of the cars’ roof strength and durability, particularly if the vehicles turn turtle during an accident was stressed by the researchers at the institute. This would mean that the when it comes to roof strength and safety, even if a particular car passes with flying colors in other safety aspects, it cannot be chosen as the institute’s “top safety pick” if it fails to garner a “good” rating.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the federal government’s safety research body, also announces that it would be introducing new changes to its safety standards. The NHTSA said that to evaluate side impact damage and safety, 2011 car models would be subjected to stricter testing. To further raise the NHTSA’s standards, the safety institute’s testing procedures will also be improved. The new changes would allow the NHTSA to improve its assessment of car safety based on new factors like side impact damage and injury reduction, according to researchers and the agency’s officials.
Fewer car models are expected to earn the agency’s top ratings, as an expected result of the extensive changes at the NHTSA. For its top safety pick awards, the safety body would also be more careful in choosing vehicles.
With the announcements, industry experts declare that car owners can find it harder to look for more reasonably priced insurance. Nonetheless, they point out that when it comes to selecting the best vehicles for safety, the new changes can provide motorists better opportunity and more choices.
