Who we are Skip to content Vehicle ratings News Research areas About Home About Home About Who we are Mission IIHS HLDI Milestones The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries and property damage from motor vehicle crashes through research and evaluation and through education of consumers, policymakers and safety professionals. The Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) shares and supports this mission through scientific studies of insurance data representing the human and economic losses resulting from the ownership and operation of different types of vehicles and by publishing insurance loss results by vehicle make and model. Media queries? Please see our media resources page. Access staff bios and photos here. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety IIHS was founded in 1959 by three major insurance associations representing 80% of the U.S. auto insurance market. At first, the Institute's purpose was to support highway safety efforts by others. A decade later, IIHS was reinvented as an independent research organization. William Haddon Jr., M.D., who served as the nation's first federal highway safety chief, oversaw this transition after becoming president of IIHS in 1969. By then, he already was leading the transformation of the highway safety field from one focused solely on crash prevention to one using a modern, scientific approach to identify a full range of options for reducing crash losses. In particular: Human factors research addresses problems associated with teenage drivers, alcohol-impaired driving, truck driver fatigue and seat belt use, to name a few. Vehicle research focuses on both crash avoidance and crashworthiness. Crash tests are central to crashworthiness research, and IIHS testing expanded with the opening of the Vehicle Research Center (VRC). Research about the physical environment includes, for example, assessment of roadway designs to reduce run-off-the-road crashes and eliminate roadside hazards. This scientific approach has been remarkably successful. The number of people killed on roads in the United States, while still far too high, has fallen since 1979, even as the population and the number of miles driven have climbed. Much of this improvement is a result of safer vehicles. At the same time, IIHS recognizes that vehicle design isn't the whole story and continues to look for ways to improve driver behavior and roadway design. For example, our work has led more states to adopt primary seat belt laws and graduated licensing requirements and has encouraged communities to build roundabouts and use automated enforcement, including red light and speed cameras. Vehicle Research Center In 1992, IIHS opened the VRC. Tucked in the foothills of central Virginia, this state-of-the-art facility is where we perform the crash tests and other evaluations that form the basis of our widely consulted vehicle ratings. VRC tests help consumers make informed decisions. Vehicles are rated for safety based on performance in several tests, and the best performers carry the Top Safety Pick+ or Top Safety Pick designation. IIHS tests have encouraged automakers to produce safer vehicles, which is the ultimate goal. Knowing that consumers consult the ratings before buying, manufacturers design cars and trucks with these tests in mind. We began issuing crash test ratings in 1995, beginning with a moderate overlap front test. At first, about half of vehicles earned marginal or poor ratings, and more were rated poor than good. The ratings quickly improved, and virtually all vehicles have earned good ratings in that original test since the 2013 model year. That pattern has been repeated with other types of frontal crash tests, as well as side crash tests and head restraint and roof strength evaluations. As automakers have met these challenges, we have raised the bar, introducing tougher tests. In 2013, IIHS testing expanded beyond crash protection to crash avoidance. We began by rating vehicles for front crash prevention. At the time, technology that could detect an impending frontal collision and initiate automatic emergency braking was just beginning to spread through the marketplace, and our ratings helped speed its adoption. An expansion of the VRC completed in 2015 enhanced our crash avoidance testing capabilities. We added nighttime tests of headlight performance on our enlarged track and began testing front crash prevention systems for their ability to avoid pedestrians in addition to other vehicles. We run pedestrian tests both during daylight hours and at night, and our covered track allows this work to continue rain or shine. David Harkey is the current president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the affiliated Highway Loss Data Institute. He took the helm of the Institutes in 2018 after spending 11 years as director of the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center. Adrian Lund served as president of IIHS and HLDI from 2006 to 2017. He joined IIHS in 1981 as a behavioral scientist. Brian O'Neill served as president of IIHS and HLDI from 1985 until January 2006. He joined IIHS in 1969. William Haddon Jr., M.D. became IIHS president in 1969 and served until his death in 1985. He was the first federal highway safety chief. Russell Ira Brown was the first IIHS president, serving from 1959 until 1967. Highway Loss Data Institute HLDI is a nonprofit research organization that publishes insurance loss statistics on most car, SUV, pickup truck and motorcycle models on U.S. and Canadian roads. Founded in 1972, HLDI regularly analyzes losses under six insurance coverages — collision, property damage liability, personal injury protection, medical payment, bodily injury liability and comprehensive (including theft). HLDI collects data from companies representing over 85% of the U.S. market for private passenger vehicle insurance. Its database is the largest repository of such information in the world. Information from HLDI helps car buyers make informed choices. Insurance losses vary widely among vehicles — even among those that are similar in size and type. Some competing models may have much lower occupant injury experience than others and may be less expensive to insure. HLDI publishes insurance losses by make and model. Through its ability to analyze and make such information useful, HLDI has become the nation's principal source of public information about insurance losses for automobiles and other passenger vehicles. HLDI also analyzes the effects of various safety and crash avoidance features, such as electronic stability control (ESC), forward collision warning and adaptive headlights. One of HLDI's first-ever findings was that collision coverage losses weren't higher for larger car models, though most people had presumed they were. It found that smaller cars had higher collision coverage losses, despite a widespread belief that small cars offered greater maneuverability to avoid crashes. HLDI research revealed that vehicles equipped with ESC clearly show lower overall collision losses, with reductions ranging from 15% to 17%. With this knowledge, along with data from IIHS research on ESC, more and more manufacturers began including the feature on their vehicles. The federal government now requires the technology on all new passenger vehicles. As manufacturers introduce new crash avoidance features, HLDI is examining their real-world effectiveness. HLDI's work has been modeled around the world. Countries such as Canada, Australia and South Korea have formed associations that compile and publish similar information. Milestones Much has changed on the nation's roads since the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) was founded more than half a century ago — and many of those changes came about as a result of IIHS work. Here are some key dates from our history. 2025 IIHS launches the 30x30 initiative to rally the safety community around the goal of cutting road deaths 30% by 2030. The effort is a response to rising fatalities in the U.S. after decades of declines.   IIHS and HLDI publish several studies using a new blind zone measurement technique developed by IIHS. Blind zones around the front of vehicles have been getting larger, putting pedestrians at increased risk. 2024 IIHS updates its vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention evaluation to address more severe crashes. The new test is run at higher speeds and involves a motorcycle target and semitrailer in addition to a passenger car target. 2023 Amid rising pedestrian deaths, IIHS researchers find that vehicles with tall or blunt front ends are more likely to kill pedestrians when they strike them than vehicles with short, sloping front ends. 2022 IIHS updates the long-running moderate overlap front test by adding a second dummy in back, challenging automakers to improve rear-seat protection. IIHS begins rating seat belt reminders to encourage loud, persistent alerts that persuade people to buckle up on every trip. 2021 IIHS rolls out an updated side crash test. The new test, conducted at a higher speed with a heavier striking barrier, was developed to encourage further improvements now that the vast majority of new vehicles earn a good rating in the original side test. 2020 VRC staff adapts to the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, resuming testing at the facility with alternating skeleton crews following a three-month closure.   IIHS issues detailed, research-based safety guidelines for the design of partially automated driving systems. The systems should share control with the driver and have built-in limits and escalating attention reminders to bring the driver's focus back if it wanders. 2019 IIHS launches ratings of automatic emergency braking systems that recognize and stop for pedestrians. 2018 An IIHS testing program prompts major improvements in rear underride guards on semitrailers, as the last of the eight largest North American trailer manufacturers earns the Toughguard award. The award is given for rear guards capable of preventing cars from going under trailers in a range of crash scenarios. 2017 After several years of steady improvements in small overlap front protection on the driver side, IIHS launches the passenger-side small overlap front test to encourage manufacturers to optimize crashworthiness on both sides of the vehicle. 2016 IIHS launches headlight ratings, filling a void in information about this basic equipment. 2015 IIHS completes a $30 million expansion of its Vehicle Research Center to enable it to evaluate crash avoidance technologies year-round. IIHS and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announce a voluntary commitment by 10 automakers to equip all new vehicles with a standard front crash prevention system with automatic braking. More manufacturers sign on in subsequent months, with more than 99% of the U.S. vehicle market ultimately represented. IIHS issues its first LATCH ratings, providing information on how easy or hard it is to install child restraints in more than 100 vehicles. 2014   After research shows many teenagers aren't driving the safest vehicles, IIHS issues its first recommendations on used vehicles for young drivers. 2013   IIHS launches its first test program of an advanced crash avoidance technology, rating vehicles for front crash prevention. IIHS embarks on a major expansion of the VRC to accommodate more research on advanced crash avoidance systems. The work includes an expansion of the existing test track and the construction of a covered track to allow for testing in all kinds of weather. 2012   IIHS introduces a small overlap frontal test to drive further improvements in crash protection. Most vehicles initially earn poor or marginal ratings. HLDI analysis of insurance claims data shows that forward collision warning and adaptive headlights are reducing crashes. 2011   In the f…