- The IIHS will publish security evaluations for business vehicles and vans.
- This knowledge has by no means been publicly out there earlier than.
- Business vehicles symbolize 16% of all street deaths from 2023.
Not like another automotive, SUV, or full-size truck, business automobiles (that means heavy-duty vehicles and vans) do not must go the identical Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Meaning you’ll not see a star score from the Nationwide Freeway Security Administration (NHTSA), nor are they evaluated by unbiased organizations just like the Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security (IIHS).
For the primary time, nevertheless, the IIHS launched evaluations for business automobiles, testing options that it considers important on passenger automobiles however are sometimes not assessed on bigger vehicles and vans. These embrace normal entrance and facet airbags, seat belt pre-tensioners, seat belt pressure limiter, and seat belt reminders. Later this yr, the IIHS will launch knowledge on different options, together with computerized emergency braking and headlights.
The classes had been scored in a go/fail method with a inexperienced checkmark or a purple “X.” The IIHS evaluated three heavy-duty pickup vehicles:
- 2026 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD
- 2025 Ford F-350 Tremendous Obligation
- 2025 Ram 3500
It additionally checked out six cargo vans:
- 2025 BrightDrop 400
- 2025 Ram ProMaster 2500
- 2025 Ford Transit T250
- 2025 Mercedes Sprinter 2500
- 2025 Rivian Supply 500
- 2025 Chevrolet Categorical 2500
Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD
Photograph by: Chevrolet
4 automobiles—the BrightDrop 400, Ram ProMaster 2500, 2026 Chevrolet 3500HD, and 2025 Ford F-350—achieved “excellent” scores, passing in all 5 classes. The Transit, Sprinter, Supply, Categorical, and Ram 3500 all failed within the seat belt reminder class, whereas the Categorical additionally failed as a result of it lacks normal seat belt pressure limiters.
“For many years, IIHS has helped customers prioritize security of their car-buying choices,” IIHS President David Harkey stated. “These preliminary evaluations mark our first foray into business automobiles, which for too lengthy have been an afterthought with regards to rules and security data.”
The IIHS releasing knowledge for these automobiles is a big web profit for society. A complete of 6,535 folks had been killed in crashes that concerned a heavy- or medium-duty truck or mild van, in response to IIHS knowledge from 2023. That accounts for 16 p.c of all roadway fatalities in the US.
As a part of its 30×30 imaginative and prescient, the IIHS goals to scale back street fatalities by 30 p.c by 2030, following an surprising 30 p.c improve in crash deaths from 2014 to 2022 within the US. Stronger rules might help scale back fatalities, however the IIHS believes its data might help business automobile consumers make knowledgeable choices to purchase safer fashions that may additionally scale back the variety of deaths.
Motor1’s Take: It’s comprehensible why business automobiles didn’t have to satisfy the identical requirements as smaller automobiles; they had been heavier and constructed to haul heavy hundreds. Many occasions, these automobiles had been pushed completely for work, so excluding them from security and emissions testing made sense. However with so many of those vehicles now being pushed as private automobiles, their exemption from these requirements must be known as into query.
