IIHS Adds Vehicle Technology to Top Safety Pick+ Awards

Vehicle technology that can detect certain types of risky driver behavior will be a requirement for Top Safety Pick+ awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. IIHS President David Harkey announced the change during a roundtable on impaired driving organized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving on September 9. 

Impairment detection is one of several vehicle features addressing risky driver behavior that IIHS plans to add to the criteria for its Top Safety Pick+ award in the coming years. Others include intelligent speed assistance and driver attention systems. The first IIHS ratings for ISA systems will come in 2027. 

“As part of our 30x30 vision to cut U.S. road deaths 30% by 2030, we are committed to addressing the risky — and often illegal — behavior that underlies most fatalities today,” Harkey said. “One way we plan to do that is to leverage our ratings and award programs to encourage automakers to adopt this new class of safety technology, just as we got them to improve vehicle structures, airbags and collision avoidance systems.” 

The Institute’s renewed focus on risky behavior will include continued research on effective policies to discourage such behavior, but also technologies that can detect and possibly intervene.

Harkey described the initiative during a roundtable held as part of the commemoration of MADD’s 45th anniversary. 

“This is a significant milestone for victims and survivors of impaired driving,” said MADD CEO Stacey Stewart. “Incorporating impairment prevention into IIHS Top Safety Pick+ criteria is remarkable progress toward ending drunk driving. We commend IIHS, the gold standard in the U.S. market, for its leadership and look forward to supporting the 30x30 initiative.” 

IIHS analysis found that if all vehicles were equipped with technology to prevent anyone with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher from driving, more than 10,000 lives a year would be saved. 

Various methods exist to detect impairment. In recent years, work has progressed on a system that analyzes the driver’s exhalations from normal breathing to determine BAC and on a touch-based system that analyzes the skin. 

Other possibilities include analyzing a driver’s eye movement or driving behavior for signs of impairment. An advantage of such approaches is that they could detect impairment from any cause, not just alcohol. 

Despite the influence that IIHS ratings and awards can have, Harkey said that addressing risky behavior is not something that the Institute can do on its own. Partnerships with safety advocates, the auto industry, and federal, state and local policymakers will be critical. 

“The sooner we can start getting these features into vehicles, the sooner we can make risky-driving deaths a thing of the past,” Harkey said. “But even if we start tomorrow, it will be decades before all vehicles on the road are equipped with these systems. That’s why we also need to continue advancing strong policies to deter impaired driving, speeding and other problem behaviors.” 

The full announcement from the IIHS is available here.