The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has a series of tests that are the gold standard for the safety evaluation of cars sold in the United States. The organization flunked Tesla Motors Inc.’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model S in a measure of the best car safety. The results are a blow to Tesla’s claim that it builds the safest cars on the road.
The IIHS 2017 TOP SAFETY PICK+ selection, the top rating,  involves crash ratings for “small overlap front,” moderate overlap front,” “side,” “roof strength,” “head restraints and seats,” “headlights” and “front crash prevention.” Each is meant to mirror the results of actual accidents that are common in car crashes. A “poor” designation is rare, but Tesla received it for of its headlights. It also received a less than perfect “acceptable” rating for “small overlap front” incidents.
The results are especially bad for Tesla’s image. It is not at all unusual for cars to the top “good” rating across all the measurement criteria. David Zuby, IIHS executive vice president and chief research officer, was particularly harsh:
There’s no reason the most efficient vehicles can’t also be among the safest. We hope Tesla and BMW will continue to refine the designs of their electric models to maximize driver protection and, especially in the case of Tesla, improve their headlights.
Tests are conducted using crash dummies. Notably, the crash test of the Tesla S showed a seat belt flaw that allowed the dummy’s head to hit the steering wheel in a test.
Tesla says that the newest versions of the Model S may have corrected problems, but not in time to get in under the wire for the IIHS evaluation:
The ratings for the Model S apply to 2016 and 2017 cars built after October 2016. Tesla says it made a production change on Jan. 23 to address the head-contact problem, and IIHS will test the updated vehicle for small overlap protection as soon as it can be delivered.
In the meantime, Tesla has a challenge to face with new car shoppers.
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