This reminds me of a kind of
This reminds me of a kind of "race for relevance" by IHS using the power of "statistics" to make a point seem bigger than it actually is. Could manufacturer's improve their ability to handle this kind of accident - probably. Is it the BEST use of their effort, cost, time, creativity? Probably not. Perhaps a better adaptive cruise/braking technology could virtually eliminate the problem, rather than redesign the body/frame once again. Some cars can almost entirely stop themselves from hitting a wall/car head-on. Perhaps we can extend that technology to the periphery?
If all you have is the ability to crash cars, then everything looks like a crash to you.
Perhaps the IHS has done it's job in improving crash safety and should instead have moved the bar in a new dimension: navigation, driver-assist technologies, pedestrian warning systems (a car could flash its lights or blow it's horn from 50 feet away automatically, for example). This just seems rather un-creative on their part.