IIHS Video Shows Decades of Safety Innovation Have Paid Off

When the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration takes up new standards for its crash test next year, its officials will do well to keep in mind this much-trafficked video from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showing a collision between a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 2009 Chevy Malibu. It was created to celebrate the IIHS’ 50th anniversary.

All it takes is one look at the impact — the Bel Air’s front explodes in fragments of glass and steel while the Malibu keeps its crash-test dummy cushioned — to realize how far we’ve come in terms of automotive safety. The Malibu, of course, has airbags and a frame designed to sacrifice the chassis to save the passenger (not to mention electronic stability control).

The result is both an uncomfortable and reassuring viewing experience. If it were a real-life crash, the Bel Air’s driver would almost certainly die in such an impact, but the Malibu’s driver seems like he would walk away from the crash battered but alive.

Car Innovation Crushes Nostalgia (Detroit Free Press)

Comments

no more boulevard cruising for you

What a waste of a beautiful car just to try and prove a point.

skinner- 59 Belairs are not rare, so you can save the mourning.

The real misleading thing about this video is the fact that they used a car with a X-frame (exactly what it sounds like- no side frame rails) so the eye candy is maximized. Would love to see this vs. a '59 ford or even a '59 Caddy vs. a modern Caddy. No doubt the modern car would still be safer, but I believe the modern vehicle would've sustained more damage vs. this video and the classic vehicle less damage vs. this video.