>> Maybe we can do self-driving cars, or flying cars.
>> You just sit in the car, and it drives for you.
>> They might look like a spaceship.
>> Like it's gonna have TVs in the back and stuff like that for kids to watch.
>> It has to have good head restraints.
>> If you feel like you're in trouble, you could put a bubble shield on it.
>> Yeah!
>> I'm afraid of driving a little bit because
the accidents that happen.
>> Maybe we can make the cars out of rubber.
>> Maybe you can make the whole car turn into an airbag when it crashes.
>> If you're to get into a car accident, your car would heal.
>> I just want cars to be safer. No accidents.
>> That's what my car is gonna be all about.
[music] >> Anchor: There's a new crash test designed
to make cars even safer. >> Anchor: A newer kind of crash test.
>> Reporter: Today the Insurance Institute releasing stunning...
>> Adrian Lund: Vehicles are as safe today as they've ever been - much safer in fact.
People probably don't remember this, but back in the 60s we were killing more than
50,000 people a year on our nation's highways. That's now down to a little over 30,000.
And that's due to the actions of a lot of different people.
The National Traffic Highway Safety Administration, other safety advocacy groups,
and the insurers who support the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
>> Anchor: Cars and SUVs are getting safer >> Reporter: To make the safest car list today.
>> Reporter: Cars are getting so safe. >> Lund: The Institute has been focused at
our Vehicle Research Center on crashworthiness.
That is how well vehicles protect you in the event of a crash.
Our tests have encouraged huge improvements in vehicle design.
But there is still more work to do.
[music]
>> Engineer 1: Test will commence in 4 seconds, 3, 2, 1.
>> Lund: Now we enter an exciting new phase
for IIHS research - helping to identify what works and doesn't work
to prevent crashes in the first place.
[music]
The new expanded research facility will give
the Institute the opportunity to evaluate emerging new technologies
that have the potential to reduce motor vehicle crash injuries and deaths to virtually zero.
>> David Zuby: One of the big questions in the future is how the automakers
design driver assistance systems and crash avoidance systems
in ways that drivers can use effectively.
We're already rating automatic emergency braking systems
[braking]
Now we're looking at how well those technologies identify pedestrians.
We're developing a program that will encourage automakers to offer headlights
that provide more usable light.
And we're creating sophisticated robot tools
that, using our local GPS network, can precisely maneuver test vehicles and targets
around our test tracks.
As automakers introduce more innovation and automation,
we are now ready using our advanced testing equipment,
our expanded test track, and the massive covered test track
to conduct research, year round, that will provide important consumer information
and influence vehicle design.
>> Lund: I think the future is very exciting for the kids that are growing up now.
What you're going to see over the next few years is more and more of this advance technology.
Systems that help the driver do the right thing.
And with our new facilities and test equipment, we'll be able to assess the effectiveness
of these systems. >> Engineer 2: This is a coordinated test.
>> Engineer 3: Locata quality is good. >> Lund: What's going to be important in
all that is to understand how does the driver... >> Engineer 3: I see 9 satellites.
>> Lund:...respond to a vehicle that knows more and more and is ready to take
action for them. >> Engineer 2: Starting test.
>> Lund: We don't know whether people will find that acceptable.
>> Engineer 3: Starting log and launching test.
>> Lund: We don't know if they will try to defeat it.
>> Engineer 2: Vehicle A on course A. >> Lund: And we also don't know exactly
how well it will act physically in the kinds of circumstances where crashes occur.
>> Engineer 2: Headings are good.
>> Lund: Those are the kinds of circumstances we hope to be able to reproduce.
>> Engineer 2: Launch server.
[music] >> Lund: Our role is to develop the knowledge
that promotes better highway safety policy, that promotes more protective vehicles,
and in the future that will promote vehicles that don't crash in the first place.
The idea here is vision zero. That is that there are no deaths from motor vehicle crashes.
>> I want to be in the safest car when I'm driving. Safest car.