IIHS Releases List of Vehicles With Zero Death Rates Over 3 Period

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released its newest study of real world driver death rates. The study looked at 2014 model year vehicles and also those same vehicles of a few model years older if no changes had been made. According to the results published by IIHS, 11 models have a zero driver death rate over the period from 2012 through 2015.

The models that have zero driver death rates are; Lexus RX 2WD, Lexus CT 200h, BMW 535xi and also 535i 2WD, Mercedes-Benz M-Class 4WD, Jeep Cherokee 4WD, Audi Q7 AWD, Audi A6 AWD, Mazda CX-9 2WD, Toyota Tacoma Double cab Long Bed 4WD, VW Tiguan 2WD.

IIHS uses an unusual metric to measure the chances of driver death based on police report data. The metric is “driver deaths per million registered vehicle years (DDPMRVM).” A registered vehicle year is one vehicle registered for one year.

Rates are adjusted for driver age and gender.

Although the metric is a bit hard to fathom, it does provide a picture of the rate at which drivers die in different models. For example, the Hyundai Accent has a rate of 104 DDPMRVM. A Nissan Maxima has a rate of 59. The Chevy Volt just 7. And of course, the 11 models in which the rate is zero.

The last time IIHS issued a report of this type only nine had zero driver death rates. We spot one vehicle model that has made both lists. Can you guess which model it is?