With IIHS, there are a few important tests that vehicles are put through. They deal with the collision of the vehicle. For one thing, people are very likely to crash from the front of the vehicle. Therefore, tests must be run to look at the injury and survival likelihood from the crashes in each tested vehicle.
One of the types of crash tests that are done from the front is the moderate overlap test. This is done with the vehicle traveling at 40 mph. This is used with a face that is made with the use of aluminum honeycomb.
When doing the test, the people running the tests make sure that the force of the crash is comparable to an actual crash on the road. This is how they evaluate the vehicle on how safe it is to drive. The goal is to make a vehicle that passes this test among others.