1959 Chevrolet Bel Air vs. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu IIHS crash test

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Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 50th anniversary demonstration test • September 9, 2009

50 years since US insurers organized the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, car quality has obviously improved. Here is a crash test conducted between a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu.
“It was night and day, the difference in occupant protection,” says Institute president Adrian Lund. “What this test shows is that automakers don’t build cars like they used to. They build them better.”

The crash test was conducted at an event to celebrate the contributions of auto insurers to highway safety progress over 50 years. Since the Institute’s 1959 founding, insurers have continued to “conduct, sponsor, and encourage programs designed to aid in the conservation and preservation of life and property from the hazards of highway accidents.”