Lives saved through the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s crashworthiness ratings program
Schumacher, Amy C. / Teoh, Eric R. / Nolan, Joseph M.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
June 2026
Abstract
Improvements to vehicle safety over the years have been made in response to both government standards and consumer ratings. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) began a crashworthiness evaluation program in 1995 to encourage vehicle design improvements that go beyond what is required by federal standards and tests in order to save more lives on the roads. For the 30th anniversary of the IIHS crashworthiness testing program, we have calculated an estimate of the lives saved thanks to improved performance in the IIHS front, side, and roof strength tests. To estimate the number of lives saved, we estimated the number of fatalities that would have occurred each year if the proportion of rated vehicles on the roads rated good for each test was the same as it was the year the test was introduced. The final analysis was stratified by belt use, limited to vehicles with frontal airbags, and, for the years following the publication of relevant federal standards, limited to vehicles with side airbags and electronic stability control. An estimated 48,352 lives were saved from 1999 to 2024 by vehicle improvements made in response to the IIHS crash testing program. This translates into an estimated cost savings of $538 billion. With $600 million dollars contributed to IIHS-HLDI from member companies over the years, the ratings program has resulted in a nearly 900-fold societal monetary benefit.
Improvements to vehicle safety over the years have been made in response to both government standards and consumer ratings. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) began a crashworthiness evaluation program in 1995 to encourage vehicle design improvements that go beyond what is required by federal standards and tests in order to save more lives on the roads. For the 30th anniversary of the IIHS crashworthiness testing program, we have calculated an estimate of the lives saved thanks to improved performance in the IIHS front, side, and roof strength tests. To estimate the number of lives saved, we estimated the number of fatalities that would have occurred each year if the proportion of rated vehicles on the roads rated good for each test was the same as it was the year the test was introduced. The final analysis was stratified by belt use, limited to vehicles with frontal airbags, and, for the years following the publication of relevant federal standards, limited to vehicles with side airbags and electronic stability control. An estimated 48,352 lives were saved from 1999 to 2024 by vehicle improvements made in response to the IIHS crash testing program. This translates into an estimated cost savings of $538 billion. With $600 million dollars contributed to IIHS-HLDI from member companies over the years, the ratings program has resulted in a nearly 900-fold societal monetary benefit.
Abstract
Improvements to vehicle safety over the years have been made in response to both government standards and consumer ratings. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) began a crashworthiness evaluation program in 1995 to encourage vehicle design improvements that go beyond what is required by federal standards and tests in order to save more lives on the roads. For the 30th anniversary of the IIHS crashworthiness testing program, we have calculated an estimate of the lives saved thanks to improved performance in the IIHS front, side, and roof strength tests. To estimate the number of lives saved, we estimated the number of fatalities that would have occurred each year if the proportion of rated vehicles on the roads rated good for each test was the same as it was the year the test was introduced. The final analysis was stratified by belt use, limited to vehicles with frontal airbags, and, for the years following the publication of relevant federal standards, limited to vehicles with side airbags and electronic stability control. An estimated 48,352 lives were saved from 1999 to 2024 by vehicle improvements made in response to the IIHS crash testing program. This translates into an estimated cost savings of $538 billion. With $600 million dollars contributed to IIHS-HLDI from member companies over the years, the ratings program has resulted in a nearly 900-fold societal monetary benefit.Crash testing and crashworthiness: Miscellaneous, ID: 2369