Who decides which car models get crash tested and which don't? What are the rules around this? Does the car maker decide? I notice that Porsche recently started doing tests, but only on their SUVs.
Who decides which car models get crash tested and which don't? What are the rules around this? Does the car maker decide? I notice that Porsche recently started doing tests, but only on their SUVs.
I thought ALL vehicles to be sold in the US must be crash tested. I am sure some mostly identical variations could get a pass.
Uhh... all do. What put your under the impression that the US doesn't crash test?
There's federal requirements and then of course far more internal testing done as well.
In reply to aircooled :
NC Miata. Sold here from '06 - '15. No crash tests.
Porsche 911. Sold here from 1963 - 2018. No crash tests.
Huh I also thought that all cars had to be crash-tested to be street legal since at least the '80s, even oddball supercars, the only workaround being to sell the car as a kit (and some countries treat semi-assembled/roller kits as production cars).
LuxInterior said:In reply to aircooled :
NC Miata. Sold here from '06 - '15. No crash tests.
Porsche 911. Sold here from 1963 - 2018. No crash tests.
Where did you get that information? Makes no sense to me- all of the cars have specific crash structures and whatnot, so there's a darned high (if not 100%) chance that the manufacturer crashed the car.
Unless you are specifically talking NHTSA. They can be very like the EPA, and use data directly from the manufacturer, and spot check some cars while testing very new technology.
LuxInterior said:In reply to aircooled :
NC Miata. Sold here from '06 - '15. No crash tests.
Porsche 911. Sold here from 1963 - 2018. No crash tests.
You mean no *published* crash tests?
100% chance these cars were crash tested.
Published as in performed by a public agency instead of by the manufacturer.
Nothing on IIHS. "If you don't see a particular model listed, it's because we haven't tested it. We try to cover as much of the marketplace as we can, testing vehicles from a range of manufacturers and with high sales numbers. "
Euro NCAP shows a test of a 2002 Miata and a 2015 (aka the ND), but not the NC. No 911s.
The NHTSA shows tests for 1990, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2001. Looks like 2001 got both a frontal and a side test, thus the two reports. They also have a test for an MX5 in 1996. No 911s.
Darwinists crash test cars every single day...ask me how I know.
The NHTSA can be pretty picky. They made Chevy retest the 94-96 Impala SS even though it was basically a 9C1 Caprice. I guess they figured different seats, badges, and wheels made it different enough.
Just wear your helmet and maybe a mouth guard if you decided to crash test a car.
Don't be a dummy, buckle your safety belt
The short answer is, surprisingly, "the independent crash test organizations." To the letter of the law, manufacturers need to certify that their cars meet the minimum requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Regulations. Part of the certification process does involve submitting evidence that a certain number of these standards are met. This usually does involve crashing a whole car off the production line, but I'm told that there are cases where manufacturers have met the requirement by crash testing partially assembled chassis and the like.
However, this is very much a pass / fail sort of measure (as opposed to the NCAP / IIHS "star" ratings) , has no requirements around publication of the results, and does not put any burden on the NHTSA itself to actually perform or publish a crash test of their own to verify the manufacturers' claim. The FMVSS is an enormous book that you have to order so I haven't been able to find a copy online. The FMVSS quick reference guides that are available online will give you an idea of the requirements that they do set for the manufacturers though.
The other part of it is that IIHS and NCAP orgs are independent organizations which actually go out and buy cars from dealerships for their crash tests. They don't have the time or money to test every single car. They just select cars that look like they might be representative of that manufacturers' range and test those. That's why independent crash test ratings of sports cars are so hard to come by, even if they sell in relatively high volume.
EDIT: Oh, as far as the source of the information, I asked a lawyer who was in this line of work. Hopefully I captured everything he said correctly.
Boxfox, you basically have it right. Though, NHTSA also has to go out and buy cars from dealerships for their tests. And they DO have to publish their results https://icsw.nhtsa.gov/cars/testing/comply/monthly/ also, https://icsw.nhtsa.gov/cars/problems/comply/
Though, you dont have to order the hardcopy for the FMVSS or any government regulation (though I agree, the hardcopy is enormous ~4 inches thick). Heres the digital: www.ecfr.gov You are looking for title 49 part 571 to find the FMVSS. There are a lot of other areas to poke into there to better understand how regulations work in general. (trust me, you may want to go screaming back to abridged summary versions, some of them are quite lengthy)
If you are lazy and dont want to drill down to the specific section: FMVSS lots of different standards that get tested to in there. NHTSA does test vehicles to them, but not all vehicles again (see budget and spending taxpayer money)
Furthermore, if you have an interest in what NHTSA's test procedures are, they are also public here: NHTSA Test Procedures
I seem to remember reading someplace that some are done by simulation and/or similarity.
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