Understanding Car Crash Tests

When purchasing a Ford Escape from Costa Mesa from a Ford Dealership in Costa Mesa, one may feel excited. Indeed, they are purchasing something that is going to be part of their lives, helping them get wherever they want. One thing people may wonder about is what sorts of tests there are out there ensuring that those cars are safe so that the people who welcome them into their lives encounter as few risks as possible. Well, there are crash tests in place for that, which are administered by different agencies.

NHTSA

As anyone working at Ford dealerships in Costa Mesa would be able to explain, the NHTSA is in place to ensure that there are as few deaths, injuries, and economic losses due to car accidents as possible. Indeed, the Ford Escape from Costa Mesa, just like any other car, is likely to have gone through these tests. The NHTSA has been in place since the 1970, and in the year 1993, it introduced the 5 star rating system that is still in place today, even though the tests became better as time went on.

The NHTSA tests approximately 1,000 cars every year in seven vehicle categories. However, not all cars get examined since it concentrates on cars that received major redesigns. As anyone at a Ford dealership in Costa Mesa would be able to confirm, each car, such as a Ford Escape from Costa Mesa, is evaluated across four areas: frontal crash test, side barrier crash test, side pole crash test, and rollover resistance test.

When testing the cars, the NHTSA uses standard conditions, such as the positions of the dummies, as well as the speed at which the car hits the barrier. The results obtained are then used to score the vehicles from 1 to 5 stars.

IIHS

Founded in 1959, the IIHS came to be before the NHTSA. Ten years after it was developed, it became a nonprofit research organization that worked to reduce deaths and injuries due to car crashes. Starting 2006, it introduced the Top Safety Pick. This organization tests about 80 cars every year on aspects like crashworthiness and crash avoidance and mitigation. The first refers to the ways in which the vehicle keeps its ride safe, while the second looks at the technology that is in place to prevent crashes.

For the first aspect, they perform six tests, as follows: driver side small overlap front, side, head restraints, passenger-side small overlap front, roof strength and moderate overlap front.

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