Highway Safety

Vehicle crashes involving wrong way drivers are some of the deadliest on our roads. NBC Connecticut Investigates has reported a series of stories about techniques to detect and prevent these kinds of crashes. One of the tools the state has been testing out is a wrong-way driver deterrence system. The pilot project is located on the I-84 off ramp at…

The U.S. Census Bureau is asking states for drivers’ license records that typically include citizenship data and has made a new request for information on recipients of government assistance after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked plans to include a citizenship question in its 2020 population count. The two approaches, documented by The Associated Press, alarm civil rights activists. They caution...

 The president’s fight to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census seems to have ended.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says in a new report that safer restraint systems are needed for the back seats of cars. The study finds that rear-seat safety has not kept pace with front-seat safety and it has been to the detriment of belted passengers in the back seat. The study looked at 117 front crashes that resulted in...

New crash tests show pickups with some of the oldest designs could struggle to protect passengers riding in the front seat. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tested 11 mid-size and full-size pickups and found mixed results. “In general, the pickup truck class of vehicles is not doing as good a job protecting right front passengers as other classes...

A new AAA report found that as your car’s headlights age, the amount of light they produce for a dark drive is significantly diminished.

A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that headlights on nearly half of 2018 model cars tested by the group do not adequately light the road, and most “good-rated” headlights only come with optional packages or an upgraded trim. According to the IIHS, out of 424 headlight possibilities across trims on 2018 models tested by the...

Testing by AAA shows that electronic driver assist systems on the road today may not keep vehicles in their lanes or spot stationary objects in time to avoid a crash. The tests brought a warning from the auto club that drivers shouldn’t think that the systems make their vehicles self-driving, and that they should always be ready to take control....

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released new crash ratings for minivans.

The Trump administration says people would drive more and be exposed to increased risk if their cars get better gas mileage, an argument intended to justify freezing Obama-era toughening of fuel standards. Transportation experts dispute the arguments, contained in a draft of the administration’s proposals prepared this summer, excerpts of which were obtained by The Associated Press. The excerpts also...

For years, Tesla has boasted that its cars and SUVs are safer than other vehicles on the roads, and CEO Elon Musk doubled down on the claims in a series of tweets this week. The electric vehicles are under intense scrutiny from federal investigators, who have been looking into post-crash battery fires and the performance of Tesla’s Autopilot semi-autonomous driving...

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has developed a new crash test program to address passenger-side airbag systems. Automobile manufacturers were not prioritizing the safety of front-seat passengers as much as drivers. Going forward, a good or acceptable passenger-side rating will be required to qualify for the Institute’s 2018 Top Safety Pick award. The new, small overlap front crash test...

Safety systems to prevent cars from drifting into another lane or that warn drivers of vehicles in their blind spots are beginning to live up to their potential to reduce crashes significantly, according to two studies released Wednesday. At the same time, research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety raises concern that drivers may be less vigilant when relying...

A new report shows more Americans are getting in the back seat of a car without buckling up.

Florida says it had suspended commercial driving privileges for a truck driver three months before he was arrested for driving a tractor-trailer so hot that 10 people died.

After three months as the nation’s most valuable automaker, a bad week in an otherwise stellar year has knocked Tesla from the top perch as the nation’s most valuable automaker. Tesla’s growth remains stellar, with shares soaring close to 50 percent this year, twice that at General Motors Co., which retook the spot Thursday. Ford Motor Co. has actually fallen...

More than half of the midsize SUVs tested by an insurance industry group were found to have unsafe headlights that did not light up the road far enough or caused glare for oncoming drivers. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said Tuesday that it tested 37 midsize SUVs and only two received a “good” rating: the 2017 Volvo XC60 and...

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has compiled a list of the safest used cars for teenage drivers that are under $20,000.

Companies that make child booster seats for vehicles are getting better at designing them to protect kids, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said Thursday.

Small SUVs for 2016 and 2017 did poorly during new headlight tests done by the insurance industry. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said Tuesday that none of the 21 SUVs tested earned its highest ranking. The Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson and Mazda CX-3 performed best, but more than half the SUVs tested received the lowest ranking, including...