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August 14, 2009
IIHS - Blind, Deaf, and Liberal
Now comes the news that the "Kia Soul, Toyota Prius and Honda Insight earn IIHS Top Safety Pick awards".
Of course, I immediately became suspicious. As in, I find it hard to believe that someone who is being objective is going to look at a rollerskate like a Prius or a Kia and think - that's the safest car I could possibly find to put my family in and send them down the interstate. It's just absurd. It's intuitively obvious to the casual observer that this is not right.
I'm not even clear who the IIHS is. The "Insurance Institute for Highway Safety"? WTF is that? The IIHS has a web site, sure enough. But I have two, and that's not saying much. That doesn't carry a lot of water in my book. It costs like $9 a year to get a domain name on GoDaddy.com. So, color me doubtful at this point.
They're not the NTSB. And they're not the NHTSA. The IIHS is not a government agency so far as I can tell. The IIHS claims that they are "an independent, nonprofit, scientific, and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses -- deaths, injuries, and property damage -- from crashes on the nation's highways."
So, I have no clue who these people are, but the proof is in the pudding. Let's look at how they rated the safe vehicles. Like, if you think you're safe in a Prius, you should see how one does when it gets T-boned by a Government Motors vehicle like the Chevy Suburban. Here you go buddy...have a seat...get you a bucket of popcorn...sit back and watch what a Suburban does to a sardine-can-Prius. I promise you that if you saw a Suburban tangle with a Prius, you'd sell your rolling-coffin-Prius for ten cents on the dollar and take your "IIHS Top Safety Pick - 2009" and toss it in the trash. You wouldn't walk away from witnessing that crash wondering which vehicle you'd rather have your family traveling in, I can assure you of that. Not unless you're blind, deaf, and liberal.
So, I went to the IIHS ratings website to see how they rated the Tahoe and the Suburban and the Yukon because, you know, they're so concerned about your safety and all. They have to have tested these big safe vehicles because that's what the the HS in IIHS stands for, right? Highway Safety. That's what they're all about, right? They're worried about your safety. Like, sure gas is expensive, but you should try hanging out in intensive care on life support for about 6 months. Gas starts to look pretty cheap.
But neither the Suburban, nor the Tahoe, nor the Yukon has ever been awarded an IIHS Top Safety Pick.
"Why is that?", you ask. How could it be that the largest, safest vehicles on the road never garnered the coveted "IIHS Top Safety Award "that they are showering on imported aluminum skinned golf carts masquerading as cars? The Tahoe, Suburban, and Yukon never got a coveted "Top Safety Award" because the IIHS never rated the Suburban or the Tahoe or the Yukon. But don't take my word for it. Go to the IIHS Ratings website and see for yourself.
It's actually well documented that SUVs have the lowest number of deaths per registered vehicle (20 per million) and SUVs have lower injury liability losses than cars.
The fact of the matter is that SUV's are safer than cars. Plain and simple. The higher mass of SUVs provides an advantage in single and multiple vehicle crashes that more than compensates for the disadvantage in accident avoidance and single vehicle crashes. SUVs exact a higher death and injury toll on the occupants of smaller/lighter vehicles in multiple vehicle collisions.
So, thanks for the advice on how safe the Prius and the Kia are, but I think I'll pass.
P.S. - Did you ever notice that Kia stands for Killed In Action? That's why people in the military won't drive them. ;)
Posted by Rob Kiser on August 14, 2009 at 10:54 PM
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