IIHS Evaluates Commercial Vehicle Safety: A Call for Better Standards

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has unveiled its inaugural evaluations of commercial vehicles, revealing a stark disparity in crash prevention capabilities compared to passenger cars.

This assessment, conducted on cargo vans and work trucks, highlights widespread deficiencies in vehicle-to-vehicle collision prevention. The study heralds a significant step for the IIHS, which began this initiative in June 2026, aligning its criteria with that used for passenger vehicle evaluations. The findings may drive new safety standards, as crashes involving heavy-duty or medium-duty vehicles accounted for 6,215 fatalities in 2024, about 16% of all U.S. road deaths reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Key Safety Shortfalls in Commercial Vehicles

The results revealed that heavy-duty pickups, often used for towing and transporting equipment, scored poorly in front-crash prevention tests. According to David Kidd, vice president of vehicle research at IIHS, there exists a regulatory gap between commercial and passenger vehicles concerning airbags, advanced restraints, and towing regulations. This assessment aims to close this gap by encouraging the adoption of enhanced safety technologies in commercial vehicles—an initiative backed by auto insurers and targeting consumers, policymakers, and safety professionals.

Industry Implications and Future Prospects

The IIHS's findings come amid a growing market for larger work and delivery vehicles, posing new challenges for road safety. Kidd noted that these vehicles' increasing size makes them harder to differentiate from smaller counterparts, complicating the safety landscape. By spotlighting these issues, IIHS hopes to incentivize manufacturers to improve embedded safety technology and elevate it to a standard offering across commercial fleets.

Understanding the Crash Test Findings

Certain vehicle models, such as the Chevrolet Express 2500 and GMC Savana 2500, lacked essential safety features like automatic emergency braking systems, which are critical for pedestrian crash avoidance. In contrast, the Rivian RCV-Delivery 500 performed well in pedestrian safety but only marginally in vehicle-to-vehicle scenarios. Notably, visibility challenges were evident even among vehicles like the F-350 and Ram 3500, which struggled in detecting child-sized dummies in daylight conditions.

Next Steps in IIHS's Evaluation Process

As the IIHS continues to expand its evaluations through 2027, future assessments will include crucial components like headlights and rear automatic emergency braking. Testing will also progressively cover larger Class 4 to 6 trucks, ensuring a comprehensive coverage of the commercial vehicle market. These efforts aim not only to improve safety but also potentially reduce insurance claims and enhance risk management for fleet operators and insurers alike.