For years, the biggest vehicles on the road have gotten away with little to no accountability when it comes to crash safety. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, famous for its crash tests, is about to change that. It has started putting HD pickups and cargo vans through part of its barrage of tests, with ratings coming for vehicles from 10,000 to 14,000 pounds GVWR. No More Hiding In The Loopholes FordClass 3 vehicles, including Ford F-350 models and 3500 trucks from Ram and GM, along with similarly heavy vehicles from other commercial automakers, have been immune to many of the same rigid requirements of their smaller siblings for decades. That's why you won't find a fuel economy rating for any HD pickup, but it goes beyond that.These trucks don't have to meet the same crash standards in the US as so-called light trucks. That's the real reason big rigs don't have driver airbags, and it's why the Tesla Cybertruck isn't allowed on roads in Europe. It's technically a Class 3 truck.The IIHS is about to hold the feet of more big trucks and vans to the fire with these new tests. More and more drivers have HD pickups as their family vehicle, which means there are more on the road, and as such, are involved in more crashes. There's also more opportunity to improve safety. Especially, the IIHS says, if it can get fleets on board.In 2023, the IIHS says, 6,535 people were killed on US roads in crashes involving medium and heavy-duty trucks. That's 16% of all road fatalities, and according to NHTSA data, the figure has doubled in just seven years. There were also 160,608 injuries involving medium and heavy-duty trucks the same year, again on the rise and double just 10 years ago. Meanwhille, cars and light trucks remained flat. Don't Expect Smashed Trucks... For Now Chevrolet But don't expect videos of smashed HD trucks to start showing up. The initial tests are about occupant safety, but the IIHS is describing paper tests. By that, we mean crashworthiness ratings that will tell you if they have airbags and advanced seatbelts. Something most pickups already offer.Down the road, the IIHS will start testing crash avoidance features. That includes things like automatic emergency braking, steering, and similar advanced assists. It will start with pickups and vans, but there will be more coming. Box trucks are next, and even larger tractor-trailers are possible.Stellantis North America The IIHS first started testing bigger vehicles in 2010 with tests of features designed to protect people in smaller vehicles. The Toughguard award was a test of vehicle underride bars, those beams at the rear of heavy trailers that stop cars from going underneath in a crash.When 70% of fatalities are occupants of the smaller vehicle, that test makes sense. But, the IIHS, says, it's time to expand that. It will also be adding criteria for side underride bars, which help stop pedestrians, cyclists, and smaller vehicles from getting run over by the rear tires of a trailer.We still want to see the big trucks get crashed, though. Totally for safety, and not to satisfy our inner children. Yeah, that's it.Sources: IIHS, NHTSA