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IIHS Study: Performance Ads Rise as Fatalities Climb
19 Jun
Summary
- Vehicle ads emphasizing performance rose significantly from 2018 to 2022.
- Speed was highlighted more than twice as often as safety in advertisements.
- Speed-related crashes caused 11,288 deaths in 2024, a 29% of road fatalities.
Advertisements for vehicles have increasingly highlighted performance and speed between 2018 and 2022, a trend that coincides with a rise in traffic fatalities. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that 43% of car ads from those years focused on aspects like speed, maneuverability, traction, or power.
This emphasis on performance, particularly speed, outpaced safety mentions by a wide margin. IIHS President David Harkey noted that such ads can reinforce a dangerous cultural obsession with speed, potentially influencing drivers to believe they can replicate stunt driving. This is particularly concerning as speed-related crashes accounted for 29% of all road deaths in 2024, with 11,288 lives lost.
While some performance features like traction might seem safety-related, ads often portrayed them in aggressive contexts. The IIHS urges automakers and broadcasters to treat unsafe speeding with the same seriousness as drunk driving or failing to wear a seatbelt, acknowledging the cultural dimension of road safety issues.
