Pennsylvania residents may be aware that the electric car maker Tesla has claimed that their Model S luxury sedan is the safest car ever to be offered for sale in America, but the results of rigorous tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have not borne out this claim. After the testing had been completed, the nonprofit organization added three full-sized cars to its list of vehicles that have achieved the highest possible crash ratings. However, the Tesla Model S was not among them.
The Ford Taurus and Chevrolet Impala also failed to achieve the highest crash test rating, and a leading figure at the IIHS, which is funded by the auto industry to assess the safety of cars, pickup trucks and SUVs, said that the Ford, Chevrolet and Tesla all struggled with a test designed to replicate the impact of striking a telephone pole or tree with the driver’s side front corner.
IIHS testers say that the seat belts fitted to the Tesla Model S were not strong enough to prevent the crash test dummy from moving too far forward during the small overlap front test. The IIHS conducts five types of crash test that are designed to measure how well vehicles protect their occupants in various car accident scenarios. They include front, rear and side-impact collision reconstructions and rollover and roof strength tests.
Modern automobiles contain safety systems that would have seemed unimaginable in decades past, but recent car accident fatality data suggests that even the most advanced technology is not enough to protect America’s road users. The vast majority of traffic collisions involve a negligent driver, and personal injury attorneys with experience in this area may seek to hold them accountable financially by filing lawsuits on behalf of those who have suffered injury, loss or damage due to their reckless behavior.