NHTSA Ratings question

[genghis]

Hey, maybe someone here can help me with this...

Why is it that in the NHTSA rating at safercar.gov, some vehicles are exempted from certain tests?

A Chevy Tahoe, for example, has for the last many years simply been "not rated" on the side star impact test. Why is that?

How are companies allowed to simply not participate? Does that mean they're hiding bad ratings, or is this something more complicated?

 

[OUTRNNR]

Genghis,

Looks like you are doing your homework on the new car search. Good Job.

I couldn't find the post I left in one of your other threads so I wanted to let you know that Side-Impact Airbags and Roll Sensing Curtain Airbags are NOT part of the Star Safety System and therefore are not standard on 4Runners. That being said, they are very common and easy to find in most new and used Runners.

As far as the Tahoe question goes, do you think "not rated" necessarily means that it is exempt from the test? Maybe they didn't have a vehicle available during testing for a certain time period.

Maybe if you delve a little further into the NHTSA website an explanation for the "not rated" entry will surface.

Best of luck in the research!!!