Watch These 12 Vehicles Score Poor Ratings During IIHS Crash Testing In this group of crash test misfits, steering wheels snap loose, handbrake pedals go skin deep, and some airbags never deploy. Apr 13, 2021 Slow motion footage of a car colliding with a barrier makes an awesome GIF. Sheet metal crumples like wrapping paper, headlights explode, and, even on newer models, there's always a grille or chunk of plastic trim that flies away like an Airbus departing LAX. After the kinetic energy settles, there sits the yellow dummy. A faceless reminder of us. Each year, the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) put hundreds of new cars, trucks, and SUVs through systematic testing to help show how the exact same accident in one vehicle might be different in another. And that difference could be one between life and death. The IIHS states that if behind the wheel of a Good rated car, you're 70 percent less likely to die than if you had been in a Poor rated car, at least where the driver-side collisions are concerned. You might've already seen our list of the safest cars and SUVs for 2021, but this collection is a little different. With the help of the IIHS, we've put together a list of vehicles from the past 25 years that did especially poorly during specific crash tests.