Tesla & BMW Fall Short in IIHS Safety Tests

[milleron]

This single test does nothing to render the Model S unsafe. It's just one test. Let's not blow this out of proportion.

I gotta disagree. It's a test that's not included in other suites but is included by IIHS because it simulates many accidents in the real world. Tesla's result proves their point very well -- namely, that you can encounter significant safety problems in a vehicle that passes government testing with no problems detected. And in this case it's literally not "just one test." It was repeated, and the failure of the Model S was replicated again, only somewhat worse after Tesla's attempt to correct it. Conclusion: Model S is not an "unsafe" automobile, but it, in fact, DOES have one significant shortcoming. I see no logical point in denying it, even though the US government still rates it as the vehicle least likely to allow injury to passengers of any they've ever tested.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

Conclusion: Model S is not an "unsafe" automobile, but it, in fact, DOES have one significant shortcoming. I see no logical point in denying it, even though the US government still rates it as the vehicle least likely to allow injury to passengers of any they've ever tested.

Somewhat disagree. Even if you consider that it didn't perform well enough to get top marks on a specific test, it's pretty far from a "significant shortcoming" to get an "Acceptable" rating. There is a reason the scale isn't pass or fail.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I gotta disagree. It's a test that's not included in other suites but is included by IIHS because it simulates many accidents in the real world. Tesla's result proves their point very well -- namely, that you can encounter significant safety problems in a vehicle that passes government testing with no problems detected. And in this case it's literally not "just one test." It was repeated, and the failure of the Model S was replicated again, only somewhat worse after Tesla's attempt to correct it. Conclusion: Model S is not an "unsafe" automobile, but it, in fact, DOES have one significant shortcoming. I see no logical point in denying it, even though the US government still rates it as the vehicle least likely to allow injury to passengers of any they've ever tested.

It only has a perceived shortcoming because one test was invented recently where the car doesn't do exceptionally well. Until that test was developed, nobody knew or cared, yet it still performed in the same manner. It's all relative.

 

[mdevp]

The Tesla's seat belt restraint didn't seem to be working to me. If you compared to the IIHS Volvo S90's video, the Volvo's dummy's head and chest is immediately locked up by the seat belt and doesn't move anywhere. In the Tesla video the head/chest is not restrained at all and is allowed to move forward towards the air bag undeterred. Anyone else notice this?