2013 in Review
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2013 in review INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY HIGHWAY LOSS DATA INSTITUTE The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses — deaths, injuries and property damage — from crashes on the nation’s roads. The Highway Loss Data Institute shares and supports this mission through scientific studies of insurance data representing the human and economic losses resulting from the ownership and operation of different types of vehi- cles and by publishing insurance loss results by vehicle make and model. Both organizations are wholly supported by the following auto insurers and funding associations: MEMBER GROUPS Liberty Mutual Insurance Company Acceptance Insurance Louisiana Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company ACE Private Risk Services Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund Affirmative Insurance Mercury Insurance Group Alfa Alliance Insurance Corporation MetLife Auto & Home Alfa Insurance Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company Allstate Insurance Group MiddleOak American Family Mutual Insurance Mississippi Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company American National Family of Companies MMG Insurance Ameriprise Auto & Home Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Company Amica Mutual Insurance Company Nationwide Auto Club Enterprises New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Group Auto Club Group Nodak Mutual Insurance Company Auto-Owners Insurance Norfolk & Dedham Group Aviva Insurance North Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company Bankers Insurance Group Northern Neck Insurance Company Bituminous Insurance Companies Ohio Mutual Insurance Group California Casualty Group Old American County Mutual Fire Insurance Capital Insurance Group Old American Indemnity Company Chubb & Son Oregon Mutual Insurance Colorado Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company Pekin Insurance Commonwealth Mutual Insurance Company of America PEMCO Insurance Concord Group Insurance Companies Plymouth Rock Assurance Cotton States Insurance Progressive Corporation COUNTRY Financial QBE Group CSAA Insurance Group The Responsive Auto Insurance Company CSE Insurance Group Rockingham Group Dallas National Insurance Company Safe Auto Insurance Company Direct General Corporation Safeco Insurance Companies Erie Insurance Group Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Company Esurance SECURA Insurance Farm Bureau Financial Services Sentry Insurance Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan Shelter Insurance Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company of Idaho Sompo Japan Insurance Company of America Farmers Insurance Group of Companies South Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company Farmers Mutual of Nebraska State Auto Insurance Companies Florida Farm Bureau Insurance Companies State Farm Insurance Companies Frankenmuth Insurance Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company Gainsco Insurance Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Companies GEICO Corporation Tower Group Companies Georgia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company The Travelers Companies Goodville Mutual Casualty Company United Educators Grange Insurance USAA Hallmark Insurance Company Utica National Insurance Group Hanover Insurance Group Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance The Hartford West Bend Mutual Insurance Company Haulers Insurance Company, Inc. Western National Insurance Group Horace Mann Insurance Companies Westfield Insurance ICW Group Zurich North America Imperial Fire & Casualty Insurance Company Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Company FUNDING ASSOCIATIONS Infinity Property & Casualty American Insurance Association Kemper Preferred National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance Property Casualty Insurers Association of America 2 | 2013 in review Highlights IIHS and HLDI continue to advance research initiatives aimed at reducing deaths and injuries on the nation’s roads. To encourage de- signs that are even more crashworthy, IIHS entered the second year of evaluating vehicles in the challenging small overlap front crash test. Automakers are quickly making design improvements in response. Evaluating technologies that prevent crashes from happening in the first place is a growth area. Based on groundbreaking HLDI research showing the benefits of crash avoidance systems, IIHS rolled out a front crash prevention ratings program in 2013 and is expanding the number of vehicles evaluated during 2014. With these new tests, we have toughened requirements to win our TOP SAFETY PICK+ and TOP SAFETY PICK awards and plan to raise the bar again. To this end, IIHS is evaluating the effectiveness of adaptive headlights, and HLDI is analyzing claims data on emerging technologies as they gain traction in the fleet. With the support of our member companies, we are expanding our Vehicle Research Center facilities to accommodate a broader crash avoidance test program, with a covered test track, robotics equip- ment and office facilities. Early in 2013, IIHS focused on the problem of car-into-semitrailer crashes, an issue that’s received limited attention. Dramatic crash tests showed that car occupants are at risk when they crash into the backs of trucks with weak underride guards. Our research garners extensive media attention, and our experts are in high demand at conferences worldwide. Millions of people con- sult iihs.org for vehicle ratings and safety information. All of this is a credit to insurers’ strong commitment to making our highways safer. 2013 in review | 3 This tag cloud shows the most frequent search words entered by visitors to iihs.org. Traditional media television 368.5 million 5,313 broadcasts TV viewers 6 video news releases print 1,172 interviews radio 76 interviews New media 4.6 million @IIHS_autosafety visits to iihs.org 4,260 tweets | 3,980 followers up 15% from 2012 youtube.com/iihs 53,712 subscribers | 40.8 million views 4 | 2013 in review Communications facts & figures A robust communications program makes IIHS and HLDI unique among research organizations for our ability to attract media attention for our work. We provide national, regional and local media representatives direct access to senior staff to meet 24-hour news demands. We help reporters understand and write knowledgeably about our research. We distribute news releases via traditional print and broadcast outlets and also engage reporters and consumers via Twitter and YouTube. Our website draws more than 4 million visits a year, with 20 percent of visits originating outside the U.S. Our 16-member communications staff handles nearly all of this work in-house — from video production and photography to website management and development to writing, editing and pitching stories. 425 news releases 46 video news releases 410 issues of Status Report 4 17 percent rise in website visits in the fourth quarter over the same quarter in 2012 after redesigned iihs.org went live in September; overall traffic up 15 percent from 2012 4 9 videos in the new “Inside IIHS” minidocumentary series 4 IIHS YouTube channel topped Consumer Reports in video views and subscribers in November; the IIHS channel has more than 53,000 subscribers 4 4 new/updated brochures, with 2 available in English and Spanish 2013 in review | 5 Media highlights January | Study of red light camera effectiveness in Arling- ton, Va., is covered by The Washington Post. March | TV stations around the country cover the results of tests showing that some truck underride guards leave car occupants at risk in crashes. May | National coverage by The Associated Press of HLDI research that found that the cost of motorcycle injury claims in Michigan ballooned after the state weakened its motorcycle helmet law. Motor Trend magazine features the Institute’s crash-test pro- gram in its May issue. s First small overlap front crash-test ratings for small SUVs gen- erates a TV audience of 63 million viewers. s Crash Testing | FeaTure IIHS releases a minidocumentary series, “Inside IIHS,” on our The 25% YouTube channel, taking viewers behind the scenes at the MOTOR TREND MOTOR Vehicle Research Center. the world’s supercar SoluIIHS’ Small Overlap FrOntal CraSH teSTt ion revealS a danger everybOdy mISSed arsenal reloaded June | IIHS and HLDI petition the National Highway CORVE 7 C VENENO GHINI R LAMBO P1 MCLAREN LAFERRARI n n n n MAY 2013 motortrend.com Traffic Safety Administration to require antilock brakes on page 19 section all motorcycles, and Consumer Reports covers the story. July | HLDI theft loss report by make and model is cov- Words Kim Reynolds H Photographs Brian Vance and IIHS E tt There are many dangerous roads trucks are utterly destroyed there. Since the in America. Deadman’s Curve, road’s completion, the total carnage amounts ered by The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Bloomberg, and popularized by Jan and Dean’s to one car for every 6 inches of its length. fictional lyrics, refers to an actual And yet, no one has ever been hurt on that assaulT kink near Whittier Drive on Sunset Boulevard. road, and it would be an accident if the cars And then there’s the infamous intersection didn’t crash. The Insurance Institute for High- Weapons along California’s rural Highway 46 where way Safety has been colliding cars there since FOR THE STREET and TR The Los Angeles Times. James Dean apocryphally muttered “That guy’s NO EMERGENCY 1992. But in the last year, the IIHS has ruffled ack gotta stop.” Donald Turnupseed didn’t, sending In this faux some feathers with a new crash test that’s left a Dean and his Porsche 550 Spyder