#iihs — Public Fediverse posts

At root #NCAP and its progeny are substantially 'all about money" and reducing insurance payouts. Empathy isn't what unleashes the budget for scientifically crunching scads of vehicles just to see what happens to occupants.

But fair is fair: without this market pressure, yesterday my nephew probably would have been freshly dead at the hands of an 18 year old with a half-baked brain. Much appreciated. :-)

(J.'s vehicle was built when #IIHS, #EuroNCAP and the rest were beginning to really bear down on offset crashes and foot space intrusion but results were not yet kicking in; sure enough given the circs and perhaps telllingly there's a shattered femur in play here-- but J. is still alive)

Weekly output: Google features for Samsung’s new foldables, wireless-network assessments, the Nats’ zombie cryptocurrency sponsorship, Waymo safety, Starship flight 13

Mowing the lawn Saturday reminded me that my yard is once again starting to look its worst, between the heat and occasional dry stretches and weeds starting to get away from me. But when it’s that hot outside (the last few days being a blessed exception), my interest in doing yardwork also nears a seasonal low.

7/22/2026: Google Tips More Full-Fledged Gemini Intelligence for Samsung’s New Foldables, PCMag

My small part of PCMag’s coverage of Samsung’s Unpacked product event was covering Google’s announcement of some new Android features for the Korean tech giant’s latest foldable phones.

7/22/2026: Which US Wireless Carrier Is Best? 3 Recent Reports Crown Different Winners, PCMag

I had missed a chance to cover RootMetrics’ latest report a week and a half ago, but having two other wireless-network assessments drop Wednesday morning allowed me to write up all three and explain how different testing methodologies can yield different results.

7/23/2026: The Washington Nationals Are Stuck With a Zombie Crypto Sponsorship, Washingtonian

A little more than 14 years after my first piece in my city’s glossy mag, I sold a second piece to the publication. This one allowed me to tap into my interest in two otherwise-unrelated items: the fan experience at Nationals Park and cryptocurrency-startup meltdowns.

7/24/2026: How Safe Is Your Waymo? Report Finds They Crash 68% Less Than Human Drivers, PCMag

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an independent, respected observer of auto safety in the U.S., so its report of Waymo crash rates was well worth reading–both for the observations the study authors could draw from the data available and those that they could not.

7/24/2026: Starship’s 13th Test Flight Ends With a Lucky Splashdown, PCMag

Dinner was late Friday on account of my watching Starship’s launch, brief suborbital journey and then improbable survival of a soft landing in the Indian Ocean. From the test milestones achieved on this launch, it looks like SpaceX should be able to put Starship into orbit on its next test flight–which would be close to three and a half years after this giant rocket’s first launch.

Incredible I haven’t seen this video before: https://youtu.be/C_r5UJrxcck
Something made me think of @TechConnectify (though I suspect he probably has seen this before) Via: Reddit. #vehiclesafety #classicvsnew #carsafety #crashtest #iihs

Partial automated driving systems don’t make driving safer, study finds - Enlarge / Nissan's ProPilot Assist was one of two partially automated d... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=2036773 #advanceddriverassistancesystems #partiallyautomateddriving #partialautomation #lanedeparture #lanekeeping #roadsafety #autosteer #cars #adas #iihs

Automotive crash testing just got harder in 2024—which OEMs did well? - Enlarge / The Tesla Model Y has earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ for 202... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=2006099 #crashtesting #roadsafety #cars #iihs

#NBC:
"
Pedestrians, already dying at record levels, now face Elon Musk’s Cybertruck
"

"“I think Elon Musk in particular has shown the danger of letting automakers decide for themselves what’s safe on public roads,”.."

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/pedestrians-already-dying-record-levels-now-face-elon-musks-cybertruck-rcna128603

13.12.2023

#AutoSafety #Cybertruck #HighwaySafety #IIHS #Musk #Pedestrians #Tesla

New IIHS study finds that trucks & SUVs with hoods > 1 meter (40') tall are 45% more likely to kill pedestrians than cars with low hoods.

Vertical/blunt hoods make vehicles even more deadly.

https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/vehicles-with-higher-more-vertical-front-ends-pose-greater-risk-to-pedestrians

#IIHS #VisionZero #PedestrianSafety #SUV #truck

Cyclists and pedestrians are reporting a rise in distracted driving. The phenomenon is both real and legal in many states.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/epvkd7/more-people-are-watching-videos-on-their-phones-while-driving-often-its-perfectly-legal?at_medium=Social%20media&at_campaign=Mastodon
#Moveable #DistractedDriving #cellphones #driving #YouTube #Netflix #TikTok #IIHS

Only four midsize SUVs score good rating in IIHS rear-seat safety tests - Enlarge / The Tesla Model Y earned a good rating in IIHS' rear seat pro... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1923823 #insuranceinstituteofhighwaysafety #chevrolettraverse #fordmustangmach-e #toyotahighlander #volkswagenatlas #crashtesting #fordexplorer #jeepwrangler #subaruascent #teslamodely #roadsafety #cars #iihs

@1loafofmeat One thing that still gets me is how Ford decided to reinforce only the driver's side of the #Ford #Escape. It failed horribly on the overlap test when the #IIHS pulled a surprise(!) and decided to start testing the passenger side too. Like your loved one sitting on the passenger side is not as important?

Rivian R1T earns IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award

https://www.teslarati.com/rivian-r1t-iihs-top-safety-pick-plus/

#RivianR1T #Featured #Rivian #News #IIHS

The 2022-2023 #Rivian #R1T has earned the #IIHS highest safety rating, Top Safety Pick+, from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Watch it get crash tested here https://bit.ly/3jaWRzN #EV

Drivers woefully overestimate hands-free driver tech, study shows - Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson / Getty Images)

Many users of C... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1889137 #insuranceinstituteofhighwaysafety #advanceddriverassistancesystems #adaptivecruisecontrol #propilotassist #lanekeeping #supercruise #roadsafety #autopilot #safety #cars #adas #iihs

IIHS will rate driver assists like Autopilot and Super Cruise for safety - Enlarge / GM's Super Cruise system is tightly geofenced to divided-lane... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1827212 #insuranceinstituteofhighwaysafety #partialautomation #supercruise #autopilot #cars #iihs

Drivers are 24% more likely to speed when using adaptive cruise control - Enlarge / Before anyone else runs to the comments to point it out, almost no adaptive cruise contro... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1749239 #insuranceinstituteofhighwaysafety #adaptivecruisecontrol #speeding #safety #cars #iihs

Strapping a giant teddy bear to a car in the name of highway safety - Enlarge / Would you notice if a large pink bear in a high-vis vest drove past you on the highway? ... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1748629 #insuranceinstituteofhighwaysafety #advanceddriverassistancesystems #adaptivecruisecontrol #lanekeeping #autosafety #safety #cars #adas #iihs

Six cars aced new pedestrian detection tests - Enlarge / A Subaru Outback successfully stops for a "pedestrian" crossing the road in front of it. ... more: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1593089 #pedestriandetection #safetyratings #safety #cars #adas #iihs #aaa #aeb