Tag Archives: IIHS

Study: Halloween Worst Day of the Year for Cars

If Halloween left you with egged windows and toilet papered trees, count yourself fortunate. Many drivers woke up to find damaged cars, all in the name of out-of-hand holiday mischief.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that drivers have twice the chance of waking up to broken windshields, spray painted graffiti, or slashed tires on November 1 compared to the rest of the year. An average of over 1200 insurance claims are filed for damage from Halloween night’s tricks, more than any other single day including the 4^th of July, New Years, and St. Patrick’s Day. With an average claim costing $1,528, Halloween alone accounts for $1.9 million in claims.

For drivers with a garage, the answer is obviously to park the car inside for the night, but what about everyone else? On high-risk holidays like Halloween and the 4^th of July, it might be worth it to pay for a spot in a parking garage for the day. Depending on the attachment to the car, it might be better to pay for peace of mind and prevent a costly bit of vandalism.

Was your car damaged this Halloween? Do you have any suggestions for drivers wanting to protect their car? Leave a comment below, and let us know what you think!

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Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

2014 Subaru Forester Earns Perfect IIHS Score

Recently, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) started using a new safety test measuring a vehicle’s effectiveness in front, side, rear, and roll-over crashes. Earlier this month, the 2014 Subaru Forester was officially the first vehicle to earn a perfect score on every single test.

When the 2014 Forester was tested, the IIHS was in the midst of testing 12 other small SUVs. Out of the 13 tested vehicles, only the Forester and the 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander were the only small SUVs to receive an acceptable rating or higher. The rest performed very poorly, receiving a poor or marginal rating from the IIHS.

How did the Forester perform so much better? First of all, the structure of the vehicle was significantly better than the rest of the SUVs with the exception of the Outlander. It held together in the frontal crashes, and the restraints and airbags worked properly. Other models in the test had issues with the airbag deploying and seatbelts letting the crash dummies’ heads and torso move too far forward.

The full IIHS report on the 2014 Subaru Forester is available online here.

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IIHS Awards 2013 Top Safety Picks

Late last month, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced the 2013 Top Safety Pick+ and Top Safety Pick honorees, its top award for vehicle safety. 13 vehicles were dubbed a Top Safety Pick+ and 117 vehicles were named a Top Safety Pick.

Earning a Top Safety Pick+ is not an easy task. In order to earn a Top Safety Pick+, the vehicle has to receive good ratings for occupant protection in a minimum of 4 out of the 5 evaluations which include a moderate overlap frontal crash, small overlap frontal crash, side impact, and rollover as well as evaluations that measure how effectively seat/head restraints prevent neck injuries. If they receive 4 “good” ratings, the fifth evaluation must earn at least an “acceptable” rating. To earn a Top Safety Pick, the vehicle has to receive good ratings on the moderate overlap frontal test, side impact, rollover, and rear tests.

Here are the 2013 Top Safety Pick+ honorees.

Acura TL
Dodge Avenger
Chrysler 200 sedan
Ford Fusion
Honda Accord coupe
Honda Accord sedan
Kia Optima
Nissan Altima sedan
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Outback
Suzuki Kizashi
Volkswagen Passat
Volvo S60

Click here see the additional 117 vehicles chosen as IIHS 2013 Top Safety Picks.

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