Vehicle safety is the product of complex interactions among the driver, the vehicle and the driving environment. We use the Haddon Safety Matrix (developed by William Haddon, a former NHTSA administrator and IIHS president) to take a holistic view of the factors that affect automotive safety. The Haddon Matrix looks at injuries in terms of causal and contributing factors, including human behavior, vehicle safety and the driving environment. Each factor is then considered in the pre-crash, crash and post-crash phases. In the pre-crash phase, the focus is to help avoid the crash. In the crash and post-crash phases, the primary objective is to help reduce the risk of injury to occupants during and after a collision. Another goal is to minimize the amount of time that elapses between the crash and when help arrives.
