Crash Ratings Don't Accurately Reflect Trucks' Real-World Safety, Study Say

Pickup trucks that perform poorly on government and insurance-industry crash tests may not be as dangerous as those tests imply. Conversely, those with high scores may actually prove less safe in real-world crashes, according to research conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond. In comparing crash test data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) with government data on fatal crashes, economics professors at VCU concluded that although cars with higher crash test ratings show fewer driver fatalities and those with lower ratings show more, the same does not hold true for trucks.