COULD CRASH TESTS BE KELLY'S NEXT MICRO-HOBBY?

Summary

The Carpool with Kelly and Lizz Episode: Could Crash Tests Be Kelly's Next Micro-Hobby? Date: May 20, 2026

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Episode Overview

This lively episode blends a behind-the-scenes look at the 2026 IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) Top Safety Pick list, life updates from Kelly and Lizz, hosting/parenting tips, and an in-depth interview with Jessica Jermakian ("the queen of the IIHS"). The hosts discuss upcoming events, motherhood, practical meal-gifting, and then dig deep into crash test changes, what’s changed in car safety, and why certain family vehicles dropped off the latest safety list.

Main Theme:
A mix of practical mom life and a comprehensive breakdown of evolving car safety standards, especially as they relate to millennial families, culminating in expert insights from the IIHS.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Life & Family Updates

• Third Trimester Real Talk:
  Liz announces she’s officially in her third trimester and discusses the surreal feeling of approaching baby #3. The hosts humorously reflect on not comprehending the logistics of delivery in the midst of busy schedules.

  • “[Pregnancy] is going so fast because the first trimester was really hard. But I have felt pretty good.” — Liz (02:48)

• Auto Show Mania:
  The Car Mom auto show is expanding rapidly, outgrowing its venue as more attendees and car brands sign up.

  • “This year has really blown up the auto show. We've officially almost outgrown our venue.” — Kelly (04:41)

• George’s Seventh Birthday:
  Kelly shares heartwarming, funny details about her son’s birthday gifts: Lego motors, Kendall Gray merch, early reader books, a turtle trap, and camo face paint.

  • “He’s gonna freak over the [Kendall Gray] merch.” — Kelly (05:25)

• Weddings & Hosting:
  Both attended recent weddings and exchanged notes on what makes a great event, singling out good scheduling, speeches, and practical touches like to-go cups of water as unexpectedly brilliant.

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Micro-Hobby: Bringing Meals to Others

• Kelly’s New “Micro-Hobby”:
  Inspired by other moms, Kelly plans to master meal gifting, focusing especially on beautiful, disposable packaging that lightens the recipient’s mental load.

  • “I placed a fat Amazon order, about $100 worth of disposable goods...so I can properly package meals and send them to my friends and family.” — Kelly (12:39)
  • Lizz will be her guinea pig with a “third trimester specialty food” drop.

• Meal Gifting Best Practices:

  • Package breakfast and snacks (like quiche, muffins, fruit, protein bites) as well as dinner for new moms.
    • “I never had anything for breakfast when I had George.” — Kelly (15:20)
    • “She sent me a quiche and she was the only one who gave me a breakfast thing...now I send people the same quiche.” — Lizz (15:28)

• Practical Hosting Ideas:
  They discuss hosting easy, low-stress get-togethers like an ice cream social, and using simple setups so guests can enjoy without everyone having to come inside.

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In-Depth Interview: Jessica Jermakian, IIHS

[22:21–51:19] — Crash Test Insights & The 2026 Top Safety Pick List

The Evolving Safety Standards

• Why the 2026 List Changed So Much:
  The IIHS raises its standards every year, effectively making it “harder to pass,” leading to many cars dropping off the list in 2026.

  • “The 2026 top safety pick list, like, really made some headlines...It’s the equivalent to me of, like, People’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive’...And it’s jarring — the cars that fell off from ’25, it’s jarring.” — Kelly (00:51)

• New Testing Criteria:

  • Updated moderate overlap test: Requires a good rating, not just “acceptable,” especially for rear passenger protection.
  • Updated front crash prevention test: Now includes scenarios with motorcycles and truck trailers as road users.
    • “Every year we raise the bar…one of the goals of the Top Safety Pick program is to push the automakers to make improvements.” — Jessica Jermakian (22:58)

• The Critical Role of Rear-Seat Safety:

  • Historically, ratings focused on the driver only; now, rear passengers — especially “tweens to small adults” (i.e., out of boosters) — are tested.
    • “Kids in child restraints are the safest people in the car.” — Jessica (26:41)
    • “Our dummy [for rear tests] is about the size of an average 12 or 13-year-old.” — Jessica (27:40)

• Why Some Family Favorites Dropped Off:

  • Many popular 3-row SUVs and minivans lost their spot due to weaker rear passenger/second row performance, especially with “submarining” seat belt issues.
    • “No minivans on the list…and the only full-size SUV is the QX80/Nissan Armada.” — Kelly (34:52)
    • “The reason [minivans] are not on the list is because of the rear passenger in that moderate overlap test...keeping that lap belt down on the pelvis.” — Jessica (35:05)
    • “Some of the things that automakers need to do to improve outcomes for belted occupants are actually problematic for installing child restraints.” — Jessica (35:58)

• Vehicle Design Takes Time:

  • Some manufacturers prioritize convenience features (“party tricks” like stow-and-go or magic-slide seats) over incremental seatbelt safety tweaks, especially for models due for full redesigns.

• Should You Panic If Your Car is Off the 2026 List?

  • No. Cars are still safer than ever. A vehicle losing its Top Safety Pick status often reflects harder testing standards, not a regression in prior safety.
    • “These tests are difficult...the point is to get harder. And so many cars were on the ’25 [list] that have fell for the ’26. But that doesn’t take away from how well those cars performed when ’25 was the test.” — Kelly (32:06)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “It’s one of those things where it’s like…the more I know, the more I wish I knew less some days.” — Kelly (25:46)

• “For some families concerned about safety…it’s a matter of ‘When my kids are car-seat age, I’m going to install their car seat correctly, do my research, and drive the minivan.’ But revisit the IIHS list once your kids are out of car seats.” — Kelly (39:04)

• “Party tricks in the second row…that just adds to the complexity of making safety improvements.” — Jessica (39:35)

• “Our first crash tests were back in 1995...but we only started testing [large SUVs] very recently.” — Jessica (40:19)

• “Once we put those benchmarks out and say we’re going to be evaluating their vehicles, they all strive to bring…everybody up to the level of safety that we set.” — Jessica (41:04)

What’s Next for IIHS Crash Testing?

• IIHS gives automakers a year’s advance notice on upcoming criteria, e.g., 2027 standards are already sent out (41:46).

Behind the Scenes: Visiting IIHS

• Kelly is invited (via Mazda/IIHS) to watch a new crash test — including a facility tour, seeing historic crash-tested vehicles, and a live (and jarringly fast) crash demonstration.
  • “Crashes are violent. You don’t really think about it...but when you see it live, it’s over like that.” — Jessica (44:53)

Fun Fact: Would Jessica Ride in a Waymo?

• “Oh, for sure…I’ve tried in a couple different cities.” — Jessica (45:57)
  • She’d be willing to try self-driving taxis, despite the occasional viral Waymo mishaps.

Quick “Ditch The Drive-Thru” Dinner Idea

• Jessica’s go-to: Sheet-pan dinner of veggies, hot sausage, sometimes gnocchi or whatever’s on hand — super quick, all roasted together.
  • “I put a cookie sheet out, throw whatever vegetables I have on…put some lemon on it, dumped it in my kids' bowls, and that was dinner.” — Jessica (47:24)

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Segment Timestamps

• 00:01–04:12 — Catching up: pregnancy updates, managing busy lives, auto show news
• 04:12–10:01 — George’s birthday, kids’ milestones, weddings recap, what makes events special
• 12:01–18:36 — Kelly’s “micro-hobby,” meal gifting, practical hosting/party ideas (ice cream socials, easy gatherings)
• 22:21–51:19 — IIHS interview: Changing crash tests, why certain cars are off the 2026 Top Safety Pick list, deep dives on minivans, SUVs, rear seat testing, design trade-offs, behind the scenes at IIHS, quick dinner hacks
• 47:24–48:59 — “Ditch the Drive Thru” sheet pan dinner tip

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Summary & Takeaways

• IIHS’s ever-stricter safety standards mean today’s Top Safety Pick winner may not make the cut in future years — but vehicles are safer than ever, especially with proper child restraint use.
• No 2026 minivans made the list mainly due to second-row seatbelt tradeoffs, NOT catastrophic safety failures.
• Automakers are responding with better rear seat designs, but change takes years and must balance kid safety, adult belt fit, and family convenience.
• Practical mom hacks for gift meals and hosting show that simple details make life easier and gatherings more fun.

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Tone & Vibe

The conversation is warm, candid, and peppered with playful family banter and thoughtful “mom” perspectives, while the IIHS discussion is accessible, straightforward, and deeply informative — a must-listen for families buying cars or anyone wanting to understand crash test ratings in plain English.

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Memorable closing quote on the IIHS push for progress:

“We will raise the bar for ’27…But that’s my hope — that we’ll see more cars on the list.” — Jessica Jermakian (50:01)

Transcript

[Kelly]

Welcome to the Carpool podcast with Kelly. I'd like to work my way up to at my school's dinner auction doing what my sister in law does, which is donating for home cooked meals for the month of April. I know now as of today, I'm not there. Wouldn't dream of it.

[Liz]

And Liz, someone said to Maddie the other day, like, oh, she's pregnant and the baby's gonna come. And Maddie's like, no, I can only focus on the fact that she's pregnant right now. Like, the baby is like, separate your mom time off.

[Kelly]

Welcome back to the Carpool podcast with Kelly and Liz. And we just wrapped. Here's. This episode is going to be so good. We just wrapped, like, one of my favorite interviews ever with Jessica Jamaican, the queen of the ihs. I don't know.

[Liz]

I think that's her. I think that's her official title as the Queen,

[Kelly]

like, the 2026 top safety pick list, like, really made some headlines. Like, respectfully, like, it's. It's the equivalent of me of, like, people's sexiest man alive. Like, who's on the top safety pick list? And it's jarring. The cars that fell off from 25, it's jarring.

[Liz]

You know what we, like, love is we love a girl with high standards. And the IHS standards are just continue to get higher. And we love that.

[Kelly]

That's like their whole shtick. Like, every year they're like, oh, you passed. Well, now we're gonna make it harder. They're so funny like that.

[Liz]

I know they're, like, constantly thinking of they can, like, make it harder to pass. And we love that about them. So we have that interview at the end of this episode. But before that, we have a lot to catch up on. And I just want to first say, I'm in my third trimester today. What?

[Kelly]

Countdown is on. Elizabeth, when I was talking on the phone the other day and I totally forgot that, like, she has to give birth.

[Liz]

I know, because you were like. Because we were talking about the podcast schedule for, like, my maternity leave. And she's like, you'll probably just like, hop on the mic anyway. Like, we can still record a podcast. I'm like, no, like, I do think I can hop on the mic, but we do have to, like, leave space for, like, you don't know how your birth is going to go and what your recovery is going to be like. And you were like, oh, shoot, I forgot about the birth part.

[Kelly]

It's like, I totally forgot about the birth part. I just Thought you would, like, make up one day with a baby, I guess. I don't know.

[Liz]

I know someone said to Maddie the other day, like, oh, she's pregnant, and the baby's gonna come. And Maddie's like, no, I can only focus on the fact that she's pregnant right now. Like, the baby is, like, separate. Like, we're not even. Just with the auto show, with the summer, with just, like, the craziness of life right now. Like, we have not given a lot of headspace to the. To the fact that there will be a third child, like, around. So it's, like, kind of crazy, but it's coming up.

[Kelly]

Do you feel like it's going fast?

[Liz]

Yeah, I do feel like it's going fast because that first trimester was really hard. But I have felt pretty good.

[Kelly]

Yeah.

[Liz]

And I know that then, you know, the third trimester feels like 100 years.

[Kelly]

You have pretty. Historically, you have pretty. Don't take offense to this word. You have pretty easy third trimesters.

[Liz]

I remember. I mean, like, I specifically remember with James crawling, Maddie crying, because I was like, I can't believe I have to do this for five more weeks. And I. I. You know, I might have been spiraling and emotional and, like, whatever. But, no, I mean, no, I do not have. Like, these people have way harder stuff. So, yeah, no, I. I don't have a lot to complain about other than it's just, like, your body starts to hurt. But I really feel like after the auto show, I will be able to really focus. Like, I don't know where I'm gonna put her clothes, what room she's gonna sleep in. I'm getting a new crit. Like, I just have a lot I have to figure out.

[Kelly]

Totally.

[Liz]

I like. And also before I get well, I mean, I can have Maddie do this too. But, like, I do want to practice. If I'm gonna take the set, the captain, or the outboard seat out of Ikea Carnival to put James in the third row, I'm like, we need to practice that a few weeks. Yeah. Before the baby comes. So that way, when James is here and the baby's here, it's not like, there's not too many changes. And so I need to practice that kind of stuff, which is. So there's just a lot I have to do. But I'm really. I'm not focused on it until after the auto show.

[Kelly]

No. Like, the world has stopped moving until after the auto show.

[Liz]

Truly, in our world, someone text me,

[Kelly]

like, we should get together, and I'm like, can you text me like, June 14th, like that's a month away. I'm like, yeah, I know.

[Liz]

Like, yeah, I can. Yeah. Yeah.

[Kelly]

Speaking of your tickets@the Carmom.com. it's really shaping up. I mean, every week the event just keeps getting better and better. More people are coming, more cars are coming, more activations are happening.

[Liz]

I mean, yeah, it's, it's incredible. It has been, it's.

[Kelly]

We've, it's blown up officially, almost this year has really blown up the auto show. Like, we've officially, we've officially almost outgrown our venue. Like, I don't think we able to have it. I don't think we'll be able to have the next one at this venue.

[Liz]

Yeah, I know.

[Kelly]

Because we just need more space.

[Liz]

Crazy. Crazy. Anyway, today is also happens to be George's birthday.

[Kelly]

Wow. I wasn't prepared to talk about that right now.

[Liz]

I know.

[Kelly]

Oh my gosh.

[Liz]

Sorry. We're recording this two days before, but like when this comes out on a Wednesday, I don't want it to be like glaringly that you didn't mention that it's George's birthday and now you're talk.

[Kelly]

People would definitely talk.

[Liz]

Yeah.

[Kelly]

Today is George's seventh birthday. He's just the cool, he's just the coolest kid.

[Liz]

Like,

[Kelly]

and let me tell you what he's getting for his birthday. This is just so George. Here's everything George is getting for his birthday. He's getting a couple of Lego motors. So not like Legos, but Legos that can move Legos. He's been wanting Lego motors for a while. He's getting, he loves this youtuber named Kendall Gray who's this just like little country kid from Kentucky who just, you know, makes videos. He's so wholesome. So he's getting Kendall Gray merch. He's gonna freak. He's gonna freak over the merch. He's getting a couple of like early reader books because he's been really into reading right now, which is so fun. And Tyler bought him his like big present is a turtle trap for the pond. Because George really wants a turtle and I just like can't stomach paint, like going out and buying him a pet turtle. We like have so many turtles in a pond.

[Liz]

Yeah, please. Free range.

[Kelly]

Just like, let's just go catch one. So he's getting a turtle trap for his birthday and then the last thing I bought him is like a last minute ad, which I think is actually going to be like one of the biggest presents I found. On Amazon for $7. It looks like it's. It's camo face paint. Like what a guy would use to go hunting. But like, it looks like a little, like, blush, but it's got three different colors in it. It comes in like a tin. And I think that's actually going to be like the most exciting present for him.

[Liz]

Yeah, no, for sure.

[Kelly]

He can, like, put on his own camo face paint and go, like, play

[Liz]

in the woods when he goes. To, like, catch his turtle when he goes. I'm obsessed with him.

[Kelly]

Yeah, he's so fun.

[Liz]

That's so exciting. Yeah, that's like, he's seven and you've been a mom for seven years.

[Kelly]

No, it was so interesting because I went to a wedding this past weekend and this wedding was a lot of my. A lot of my, like, childhood friends were there, like child. Like not even high school, like grade school and even like before grade school. And it was so crazy because I'm like, they're all just getting married, just had their first kid and like, when did you guys get married? And I'm like 2017. Like, I have a seven year old. Like, that's so crazy.

[Liz]

Yeah, no, it is crazy.

[Kelly]

I have nugget so young.

[Liz]

You did, but you met Tyler so

[Kelly]

young and just kind of like worked out that way. Like, it would have been weirder. It would have been more weird if I didn't get married young because that's how long Tyler and I were together. So I got married at 25, 24, but we've been together since I was 18. Like, that would have been weird to not.

[Liz]

Yeah, no, it was. It was time.

[Kelly]

No, yeah, it was time. I'm so happy.

[Liz]

No, for sure. I went to a wedding this weekend as well. I was in a wedding this weekend.

[Kelly]

No, I was like, kind of so sad that we were at different weddings.

[Liz]

I know, I know. It was kind of weird, but I was in a wedding. I literally had to order my bridesmaids dress when I had just found out I was pregnant. And they're like, what size do you think you're gonna be? And I guessed. And literally next week it's not gonna fit me. Fit me like a glove. No alterations. Couldn't have been better. Felt good, beautiful day. It was just a perfect wedding. And you know what? I always like, love to nitpick a wedding.

[Kelly]

Oh, I have my favorite thing.

[Liz]

I. Yeah, I have no notes on this wedding. And I think what it boils down to, if you, like, want to have minimum to no notes for me, is Scheduling. I realize that's where I get like, most, like, oh, well, you know. But dinner wasn't served till then. Or the speech. They didn't start the speeches till this, and then you didn't get on the dance floor till that. Like, I always nitpick on the schedule. The timing was perfect. It was flawless.

[Kelly]

Like, as soon as you were ready to do it, it was time to do it.

[Liz]

It was time to do it. Like, you know, they, like, did the dad speech when the salads came out, and then by the time you were, like, eating your entree, the other speeches happen. And then right after that, the dance happened. It was just perfect.

[Kelly]

And I do, like, when they. When they do things during the dinner just to move on the night a little bit, a little bit more.

[Liz]

Well, especially if you don't know a lot of people and then you are sat at a table with people you don't know, like, you're just a guest and, like, you're kind randomly there and you, like, don't want to talk to everyone at the table. It's nice to have something to listen to, and those things have to happen during the night. And the speeches. Actually, something that really bothers me is when people do all the speeches at the rehearsal and there's no speeches at the dinner.

[Kelly]

No, I love speeches. Speeches are.

[Liz]

I love speeches. Like, everyone's crying. It's great. I feel like I get to know the wedding party more. Like, I love speeches. So speeches were fantastic. Food was great. Entertainment was amazing. But really, I think for me, like, as long as the schedule flows, then, like, I'm happy.

[Kelly]

So the wedding I went to, which is this weekend, they did something that had me. There wasn't a dry eye in the crowd, and they wrote their own vows, and they were the most beautiful vows I had ever heard in my life.

[Liz]

That would be a really hard thing to do. I feel like, to read, I couldn't do.

[Kelly]

It was. And I'm. It's so vulnerable. Like, it's already vulnerable to get up there and, like, say I do. But, like, they were making these promises to each other. And it's not that I felt uncomfortable, but it was like, no, this is. They are being. They're putting it all out there for all these people to hear right now. Yeah, it was really. That was really beautiful.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

That is beautiful.

[Liz]

That would be really hard to do.

[Kelly]

I could. I didn't do it. Couldn't do it.

[Liz]

Yeah. No. And we just do the. The Catholic ones. Whatever they say you do. Oh, this was. If anyone knows Anyone who's getting married. This was like the. One of the best touches I've seen at the end of a wedding when the last. When the last few songs were playing, they had like platters set out, plastic cups, plastic lid, plastic straw, ice water inside of it. Because at the end of the night, everyone needs a water. Especially if we were all dancing the entire time.

[Kelly]

And.

[Liz]

And at the end of the night, they just go, grab yourself a water. I'm like. And maybe it was like the pregnant woman in me because I wasn't drinking, so I was only drinking water all night.

[Kelly]

No, Liz, it's such a good touch. Like, don't worry about the. The drunk food. Like, save your pizza in White Castle.

[Liz]

Well, they did have the drunk food as well, but they also had the water. And I like that they had it with the to go cup.

[Kelly]

Like, you don't turn on, go to the car. No, that's a really good touch.

[Liz]

It was Mom. Mom was at the wedding that I was at. And we both clocked that. And we were like, dang, that's good.

[Kelly]

We both clocked that. So fun.

[Liz]

Anyway, it was a lot. It was a great time.

[Kelly]

Okay. So anyway, I am. I just want everyone to know. I just want to give everyone kind of a heads up. I am entering a new micro hobby phase. Don't roll your eyes.

[Liz]

I didn't.

[Kelly]

So, you know, I feel like I have really gotten good at hosting. You know, I'm feeling. I'm feeling confident in my hosting abilities. But a skill that I would like to work on is I want to get better at taking people a meal.

[Liz]

Yeah. Okay.

[Kelly]

I feel like I don't know what to make and more importantly, I don't know how to package it.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yes.

[Kelly]

So I placed a fat Amazon order, about $100 worth of disposable goods. I know. Trigger warning disposable goods. So I can properly package meals and send them to my friends and family. So I bought 9x13s. I bought 2 ounce plastic cups with lids. I bought 4 ounce plastic cups with lids. I bought smaller ones. I bought, like, just things so I can properly pack up food. Because I've been seeing these reels lately and they're like the best thing to take to a mom who had a baby. And the food isn't what is. The food is not what looks so hard and impressive. It's the way they so beautifully package it that I want to work on.

[Liz]

Yeah, for sure.

[Kelly]

So you're going to be my guinea pig. I'm going to make you a Third trimester specialty food.

[Liz]

Okay.

[Kelly]

Like I'm just going to package it. And I'd like to work my way up. If I can really nail this this summer. I'd like to work my way up to at my school's dinner auction doing what my sister in law does, which is donating for meals for the month. April. I know now I'm. As of today, I'm not there. Wouldn't dream of it.

[Liz]

Okay.

[Kelly]

But if I can perfect this, like how to. And it's also what to cook that transfers and reheats. Like there's a lot of moving parts to this.

[Liz]

Yeah.

[Kelly]

So that's kind of what, what I'm focusing on.

[Liz]

Okay. Well, I'm like happy to just accept any of the meals. Third trimester free fresh baby phase. Like I'm happy to, to receive and to judge.

[Kelly]

Let me give you an example of something I'm gonna do. Because when I bring something to a person, I don't just want to bring them dinner. I want to bring them, you know, a dessert, a breakfast, some washed fruit for their kids, maybe a lunch even. I want, I want, I want to do it upright. So I saw this one thing and this person just bought four, like yogurts, like Chobani yogurts. But then she made her own homemade granola.

[Liz]

Yeah.

[Kelly]

And she put it in a little 4 ounce disposable cup because you don't want to have a mom like worry about bringing that back to you. And then she dropped off these yogurts and little cut up fruit and this homemade granola and she like brought them parfaits.

[Liz]

That's cute.

[Kelly]

Parfait fixings.

[Liz]

That's cute.

[Kelly]

How cute is that?

[Liz]

I like that. I also like little like snacks, like muffins, like protein, energy bites, things like that. Just like little like grab and goes. Especially as like a breastfeeding mom. You know, sometimes I don't want to like commit to everything, but I like need a little snacky. I like, I like that when people do that.

[Kelly]

Well. And I do remember thinking when I had George, everyone brought me dinner, but I was like so hungry for breakfast.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

I'll never forget.

[Kelly]

I never had anything for breakfast.

[Liz]

I'll never forget Austin, our manager, she was, I think the only one who sent me. She sent me a quiche and she was the only one who gave me a breakfast thing. And it lasted me like several days. And I thought of her every morning. So now I send people the same quiche when they have a baby because I know no one's sending them A quiche.

[Kelly]

Dorothy Lane Market. Never forget.

[Liz]

Yeah, Dorothy Lane Market quiche.

[Kelly]

And that's where I get my chicken pot pies too.

[Liz]

Yeah.

[Kelly]

If you. It's so. They do such a good job.

[Liz]

They do.

[Kelly]

Yeah.

[Liz]

And what I also like about it, what I like about a quiche too, is it's like, I know I just said muffins, but like, sometimes you do on like a real breakfast, like, with some protein and like, some depth to it. And like, people love to just, like, give desserts too, which is. Which is great. But then I will just snack on a dessert all day, and I don't need to do that. I need to, like, snack on, like, nutrient dense foods.

[Kelly]

But if you have someone in your life who doesn't live local to you, I mean, a doordash gift card can be fine too, but that's takes a lot of mental load off the person. Just send them a Dorothy Lane market.

[Liz]

Mm. That's my go to. Yeah.

[Kelly]

Okay. Last hosting thing I wanted to talk about before we get. Sorry, this episode's kind of just all over the place, but I was scrolling Pinterest because at night my phone gets bricked and my only social media app available is Pinterest. And they had this calendar, and it's like parties to host for every month of the year. And I'm like, oh, that's like. That's so fun. So for example, you know, January was like New Year's Eve party. It's like, obvious. And then they had a soup night. I'm like, okay, that's kind of fun. And they had one for June that I think I'm gonna do this year. And it was just an ice cream social.

[Liz]

That's process.

[Kelly]

That is such an easy layup if you're wanting to dip your toe into hosting or you want to invite, like, a lot of people over, because you don't even have to go inside your house. You don't have to cook anything. You just get a couple tubs of ice cream, some fixins, and you let the kids run around the yard.

[Liz]

You make it, like, as fabulous or as un or as basic as you want. I mean, you could just get like ice cream bars and drumsticks, like, or you could do the whole ice cream sundae bar. Like, it's so fun. Depending on your budget, comfort level and how much you want to feel like doing. I see too. Have you seen where people are making, like, ice cream shop style, like, cold stone style ice cream, but they just put all the fixings in their KitchenAid mixer? So it mixes perfectly evenly. So you do like the Oreos or the M M's maybe. And then you. You put it in there with ice cream, mix it up. So then it's McFlurry, I guess.

[Kelly]

Oh, that's so interesting. So, yeah, that's so. I think. I think it's such a. People won't stay for too long. So I'm just going to send out a text and be like, ice cream social at our house Sunday afternoon. You know, 2 to 3:30 or 3:30 to 4:30 or like, maybe it's in the evening. So it's like, eat dinner. I'm not having dinner for you. But come over. I'm going to have an ice cream bar for the kids.

[Liz]

So cute.

[Kelly]

Isn't that kind of a fun idea?

[Liz]

No, that's really fun. I love that.

[Kelly]

I know. So I think I'm gonna do that.

[Liz]

Yeah. You know, people said when I brought up my friend with the bounce house, how everyone's surprised that you guys don't have. Don't you guys have a bounce house?

[Kelly]

Yeah, we do have a bounce house.

[Liz]

Yeah. Someone was surprised that you don't have a bounce house, but no, we haven't. You do have a bounce house.

[Kelly]

We have to police.

[Liz]

It'll be at the ice cream social.

[Kelly]

I probably will set it up at the ice cream.

[Liz]

You should. It's a good spot for the ice cream social.

[Kelly]

Bounce house, ice cream social. Two to four and you don't even come inside. Yeah, have a couple. I mean, you can go inside. You have to go to the bathroom, but it's not like I have to clean my whole house. I think it's a good idea.

[Liz]

I think it's a good idea, too. That's really. That's really precious. So maybe if we get ice cream

[Kelly]

social on the calendar this year, I could.

[Liz]

I could. I could attend ice cream social. Sounds pretty good to me.

[Kelly]

And you could even just, like, go to a local park if you, like. Really don't want to do it at your house.

[Liz]

It's just gathering, guys.

[Kelly]

And it's so important to gather.

[Liz]

It's so important.

[Kelly]

Okay, Liz. Well, we should just probably get into our episode, don't you think?

[Liz]

Yeah. There's more I want to talk about, but I'll save it for Friday because we're an interview and we got a timeline. So we'll talk to you then. Thank you so much for listening to this episode, and welcome to the podcast for the fourth time, Jessica Jermakian.

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[Liz]

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[Kelly]

Quince.com Carpool Jessica Jermakian welcome back to the Carpool podcast for the fourth time. I think. I think it's your fourth time.

[Jessica Jermakian]

I think it might be. It's always a pleasure.

[Kelly]

You're kind of a co host at this point.

[Jessica Jermakian]

I would hope so.

[Kelly]

This is so exciting. Okay. Well, I have. We have had this date on the calendar for a while because back In March, the IHS announced their 2026 top safety pick lists. And it kind of stirred the pot and made some headlines because it took a lot of cars off the 2025 list.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yes. Yes, it is a challenge because every year we raise the bar. That is the. You know, one of the goals of the Top Safety Pick program is to push the automakers to make improvements. And so we use the Top Safety Pick program one as a way to kind of bundle up all of our ratings into an easy to understand way for consumers to pick vehicles. They don't have to look at all the individual ratings. They can look at whether we've designated it as a Top Safety Pick or a Top Safety Pick Plus. But it also is important for the automakers to really push them with those new, really difficult tests. And so every year we'll have a few coming off, and hopefully the ones that are trying to catch up will at least come on to the base level. Top Safety Pick.

[Kelly]

And I want to talk about. So was so much to dive into, but just on like a. On a high level was the jump from 25 to 26 more intense and more dramatic than years past. And what made the 2026 testing so much more difficult for some manufacturers?

[Jessica Jermakian]

So in 2026, we did two things to the award criteria. So the first thing we did is we required a good rating for our updated moderate overlap test in order to get the base level of Top Safety Pick. And so that is the test where we are running a vehicle into a barrier at 40 miles per hour. And we have a driver in the driver's seat and a rear occupant behind the driver. Yeah. And that test is the rear. Adding the rear occupant has been a real challenge for some of the automakers, some of the vehicles. And so last year, you had to get a good rating to get a Top Safety Pick plus, but you only needed an acceptable rating in that test to get a Top Safety Pick. And so this year, you have to do well in that test. You have to get a good rating in order to get that base level of Top Safety Pick. And then the other thing we did was we added again, pushing the automakers to our newest test. That is difficult. We added a crash Our updated front crash prevention test to the top safety pick plus award. So you needed to get a good or acceptable in that new front crash prevention test in order to get a top safety pick plus. And so that test is the new test where we are making sure vehicles can identify and brake or warn for vehicles at higher speeds. And motorcycles and truck trailers thinking about automatic emergency braking not just for other passenger vehicles, but also those other road users.

[Kelly]

Yeah, it's. I love these additions and I think for families it's super. We should all be super encouraged and excited by the second row crash testing. And I think people just still this is something like I am really trying to raise awareness too because I just don't think people realize that when some like previously or Even like from NHTSA, when something has 5 stars, it still about the driver and it's about the driver only. And it's. I'm kind of going through because the more I've, the more like we've spoken and the more I've learned, it's one of those things where it's like the more I know the wish, I guess I wish I knew less some days. But once you start diving into how much safer the driver's seat is than the second and the third row it is, it's very sobering as a parent.

[Jessica Jermakian]

It is, but it's changing. And I want to qualify that by saying kids in child restraints are the safest people in the car that those.

[Kelly]

I like that. Yes.

[Jessica Jermakian]

And it's really important because we know how to keep kids protected in crashes. Those younger kids, we know that putting them in the right restraint for their age and size, they are literally the best protected people in the vehicle. And when we have, you know, when there are things like, you know, tragedies involving younger children, it's often because, you know, a child isn't in the right restraint or not restrained at all. I mean, half of our, half of kids are not who are fatally injured in crashes aren't restrained at all. But our crash testing is focused on occupants using the vehicle belt. And our dummy is about the size of a small female, which is also about the size of an average 12 or 13 year old.

[Kelly]

So it's would maybe be out of the booster like sitting, just sitting in the vehicle seat.

[Liz]

Yeah.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yes. And we, and we picked that size dummy because we wanted the rear seat to really do a good job of protecting those, you know, tweens into teens, into smaller adults because that's who's sitting there not restrained in a child safety seat.

[Kelly]

What about Third row crash testing. Do you think that's something you guys will ever do?

[Jessica Jermakian]

So at this point, we don't have plans to do third row crash testing. I will say when we. When we developed the ratings program, we did a whole deep dive into the field data. One of the things that's really hard to study is. Is what happens in second and third row in the real world crash data, because occupancy is so low in the rear seat. I mean, as parents, our kids are back there all the time. Our cars always have people in the rear seat. But for. If you look around at the vehicles on the road, occupancy is More around maybe 12% of vehicles out on the road have. And about 12% of crashes have rear seated occupants. And so finding what's happening there and really trying to understand how people are getting injured is. That's all necessary information to design a crash test. So when we were doing that initial research, we had very few crashes that involved third row occupants. And so we decided to focus on the second row. Nearly all, well, vehicles that families are looking for involve at least a second row. Some of them involve a third row. But we really wanted to highlight the importance of thinking beyond the driver and thinking beyond the front row. And let's start focusing on those. On those occupants who are behind the driver.

[Kelly]

Yeah, it's. It's such important work. And it. I'm just. I'm obviously, like, such a big fan of what you guys are doing. Okay. I wanted to kind of go through. Okay. I just have, like, some, like, really granular questions. And then I kind of just. I wanted to kind of dive into the list a little bit.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Okay,

[Kelly]

so explain to me. This is more for me, but explain to me how in 26, the Buick enclave made the list. In 25, the Acadia and the Traverse made the list. But then in 26, the Acadia and the Traverse didn't make the list.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Oh, man. You're gonna make me look these up because.

[Kelly]

Okay, I'm sorry, maybe that's too specific.

[Jessica Jermakian]

That is super granular. But I will say. So let me.

[Kelly]

No. And I could have been bothered to send you these questions ahead of time. So I am totally sprinting.

[Jessica Jermakian]

So give me an example that Acadia said was one that no longer made the list.

[Kelly]

Yeah.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Okay.

[Kelly]

So.

[Jessica Jermakian]

So that is because it only had an acceptable in that updated moderate overlap test. And now you need to get that good rating in order to. In order to get on the list.

[Kelly]

So interesting that the Enclave, though, that is basically the same car as The Acadia did make it. So is that a level of like, they have a different airbag, a different seat belt?

[Jessica Jermakian]

So it would be 100% related to what's happening in the rear seat. Because I can see looking at the, the ratings that, that the, the driver, everything looked great for the driver. The vehicle structure held up. It was really 100% related to that rear passenger. And looking at this, what is happening here? Okay, so what happened in the Acadia is that the lap belt pulled up over the pelvis into the abdomen, which is a phenomenon we call submarining. And that is something that is really, really tricky. And it's one of the things that is catching out a lot of different vehicles. It is a type of injury that we see in the field. We do see evidence that the lap belt didn't stay low on the pelvis in real people, in real crashes. And so it was something we specifically put in this test to make sure that automakers are optimizing for keeping that, that seat belt on the pelvis.

[Liz]

Wow.

[Kelly]

Yeah. I mean, if I'm looking at like the, you know, the mid size category and I don't, I mean, to your point, like, I think it is important to, to go in with the knowledge of one, cars are still safer than they've ever been. Like, these tests are difficult. So this is not to give you, like Pittsville, usa, if your car's not on this list anymore. Like, the point of this list is, the point of these tests is to get harder. And so many, so many cars were on the 25 that have fell and offer the 26. But that doesn't take away from how well those cars performed when the 25 was the test. So like I said, traverse Acadia, the pilots no longer on the list. Those cars are still super safe.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yeah. And keep in mind that, you know, when we raise the bar, we're asking the automakers to do things that they may not have, you know, fully thought about in the way that we're thinking about it. And it takes years to develop vehicles. And so, you know, every year we increase the, you know, the stringency of our top safety pick awards. But, you know, it's not always fair to think about older vehicles. They were, if they were top safety picks or top safety pluses in their model year. You know, that represented the state of safety that we had at that time. And so, I mean, like I drive a 2017 top safety pick award winner, but it, you know, the, the test got harder and it's no longer, it would no longer Be a top safety pick winner.

[Kelly]

Yeah.

[Liz]

This is like blowing my mind just to like think about it in this way. Because we've been with our new website, we refer to the IHS all the time. So I'm always looking at the model years. I'm like, oh my gosh. It like what happened? Why? What did. What changed in the car? That it's no longer a top safety pick. But nothing changed in the car. The test changed.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yes.

[Liz]

So just because it said it was a top safety pick in 24, don't like buy that used car because it's a top safety pick and it's not in 26. It's the test, not the car.

[Kelly]

Yeah.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yes.

[Liz]

Yeah.

[Kelly]

I would say like the ihs, it's or in the IHS ratings. It's such important information to know. It's not always gonna be like a final decision maker though for some families. Because again, to your point, like you. And that's why I like that you can look up the cars on the website and you can see like where maybe they made the list or didn't make the list. Because if I remember correctly, in 23 to 24, the atlas finally made the list. And the reason the Atlas made the list was because they changed their headlights. So like it really wasn't a matter of like how well it's performing in a crash. As it was like they were too cheap to put the good headlights in. So like they weren't on the list. Yeah. So okay. I wanted to kind of like read. So another. Some cars that I think are glaringly not on the list, which I think is worth mentioning. There's no minivans.

[Jessica Jermakian]

No.

[Kelly]

And the Only full size SUV full size in my world is the QX80 and the Nissan Armada. That's so crazy. Yeah.

[Jessica Jermakian]

So a couple things about that. One, that having no minivans is a huge disappointment. Especially huge disappointment. Especially because the reason they're not on the list is because of the rear passenger in that moderate overlap test. That is where those minivans struggle. It is. It's really hard. It's really hard to design that rear seat in a way that keeps the belts in a good position. And something I've heard you guys talk about thinking about reviewing vehicles for installing child restraints, things like that. Some of the things that automakers need to do to improve outcomes for belted occupants are actually problematic for installing child restraints. Like there are some trade offs there. And so the backseat is all about trade offs. It's all about how you're going to balance the needs of everybody who needs to be back there. And it is a really difficult test. And one of the biggest places we see it is in being able to keep that lap belt down on the pelvis.

[Kelly]

But it's possible. It is. So I want to see it.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yes. We have, we have 47 tsp plus winners and 17 top safety pick winners.

[Kelly]

Jessica, I like that. I, I appreciate your perspective, but, like, if the Nissan Pathfinder can do it, if the Nissan Pathfinder can get a top safety pick plus the highest award. Come on. Yeah, Odyssey, Come on. What's crazy about you? Look at. Because the Kia Carnival is on the list, right?

[Jessica Jermakian]

The Kia.

[Kelly]

No, no, no, the Kia Sorento. Okay. Your Kia Sorento is. And your Kia Carnival can't be. I'm just like, I want to see a world where it's. I just, I want to see a world where they pass.

[Liz]

That's all.

[Jessica Jermakian]

But another thing to keep in mind is, again, it takes a long time to design vehicles and the design process and the types of changes we need in the rear se, Some of them are easy fixes or relatively easy. Some of them are, you know, maybe just changing out a seat belt with newer technology. But some of them are more involved, like changing locations of Anchorage places for the, you know, where the belts are anchored to the vehicle, or changing the seat pan design, that kind of thing. And so those changes take time. So if you have something that'll be phasing out and you'll be getting a full model change in a newer vehicle, maybe you put your engineering focus on that full model change versus trying to do a band aid solution in the older vehicle.

[Liz]

And that makes sense because all have party tricks in the second row that they're trying to accommodate. Removing seats, stow and go. Magic slide. So then that's more probably in their mind and sometimes in our minds, too, that convenience is more important than, yeah. The seat belt being in, you know, the place that would maybe prevent them from being able to do stow and go or whatever it is.

[Kelly]

And I feel like, to Jessica's point earlier, you know, if they're designing it to be really car seat friendly and the car seat is keeping the children safe, like in the. So there's something to say there. So I think for some families who are like, really concerned about safety, it's a matter of like, okay, when my kids are in the car seat age, like, I'm going to install their car seat correctly, I'm going to do my research on what car seat I'm going to drive. The minivan. Because it also then sometimes these minivans and the full size SUVs, they allow parents to keep kids in a certain type of car seat for longer, which is also incredibly important. Whereas some other cars they might like, oh, now I don't have enough room anymore. I got to move this kid to this car seat. And so I think it's a matter of this is something that's really important to you. It's. But considering re looking at this list when your kids are out of the car seat phase and then kind of, you know, taking a look at this list and seeing if there's a different choice that you could make.

[Liz]

Something that Jessica said that really stuck with me was she was like, we're asking them to make the second row work for every type of passenger. And we say that all the time. When you're buying a car and you want to keep it for 10 years, you're asking your car to perform differently every single year that you own it. And like, we, we understand how that's hard to do. So.

[Kelly]

Yeah.

[Liz]

Not that I'm like, I want the test to not perform well, but I can kind of understand how it's difficult.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yeah. And Liz, what you said about minivans specifically and the party tricks, we hear that from the automakers, that, that people who buy minivans, they want them to be able to do all these crazy things. That's why they buy them. And that just adds to the complexity of making, you know, safety improvements to the rear seat. You know, and so I, I, my hope is that we'll continue to see the automakers respond to that test, and especially in the minivan class. I really hope that we'll, we'll get some top safety picks in the future.

[Liz]

Yeah.

[Kelly]

Why do the full size SUVs have so much problems with it? Because it was even just before this year. The full size SUVs have never crushed it.

[Jessica Jermakian]

So I think in A really interesting thing about the full size SUV's is we only just recently started testing them for any number of reasons. But they, we've been, we've been running crash tests for now 30 years. Our first crash tests were back in 1995. And throughout that whole time, we didn't, we didn't test large SUVs for a good chunk of that time. And so we only started testing them very recently. And so, you know, it, it may be that, that those testing programs hadn't been a focus for the automakers for those vehicles because we had never tested them before.

[Kelly]

Yeah. So we'll see in the next, like, five to six years how they improve.

[Jessica Jermakian]

It's, it's really one of the, one of the most important things about our ratings programs is that, I mean, of course we're providing consumers with information about the relative safety of vehicles. But the really key part is that we're giving benchmarks for the automakers that they should be meeting. And once we put those benchmarks out and say we're going to be evaluating their vehicles, they all strive to bring, you know, everybody up to the level of safety that we set the benchmark at.

[Kelly]

Yeah.

[Jessica Jermakian]

So it's really, it's both, both the audiences, both consumers and the automakers.

[Kelly]

So do they know, like, what the 27 criteria will be yet?

[Jessica Jermakian]

So, yes, they do. So every year at the beginning of the year, we send a note to all the automakers with what we expect to be the top safety pick criteria for the following year. We also, in our conversations with them, give them, I mean, they know what research we're working on, they know where we are in our testing programs, and we forecast out a little bit what we're going to be expecting to put in over the next few years. But at the beginning of the year, maybe around, I don't know, February ish, we typically send that letter out and say, okay, for 2027, this will be the criteria.

[Kelly]

That's so cool. Okay, so two more things I want to talk about before we let you go. One, I'm coming next week to the ihs. We're so excited, and I am, I am so excited. So I was invited by Mazda, well, and the IHS, but to see their new CX5 CX50 get crash tested. And I am so excited. Can you just tell me, like, without giving too much away, like, what I can expect to be able to see, like, how many is it just one crash test? Like, kind of paint me a little bit of a picture if you can.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yeah. So first of all, we're in rural Greene County, Virginia. And so the first thing you'll see as you come into our facility is you actually drive in on Dairy Road and there are cows on either side.

[Kelly]

Oh, it feels like home.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yeah, Love it.

[Kelly]

Perfect.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Coming in the rolling hills into, into the facility. And then you see as you're cresting, kind of coming over the driveway, you'll see this huge dome. That's our covered track. We have an outdoor track that is open and we have an outdoor track that is covered under like a big dome. It looks like a concert venue or something like that. But when you come into the facility, we have the whole workings of, like, churning out crash testing. We only run about two crash tests per week. We do testing out on our track all day, you know, every day. But the amount of time it takes to prep vehicles, get the dummies ready, get, you know, everything set up the way we need it, we run. We typically run two crash tests a week. So you will only see one crash test that day. We. There are typically, you know, happen at the same time every Tuesday and Thursday. So what you'll do is you'll come in, we'll tour you around the facility. We have a display hall that has kind of a museum of our work.

[Kelly]

So.

[Liz]

Cool.

[Jessica Jermakian]

I'm a little bit curious because we just did a really fantastic crash test a couple weeks ago, and I haven't walked back in our display hall to see where those vehicles are, but I hope you get to see those.

[Kelly]

You mean you have, like, the crashed vehicles on display? Yeah. That's so cool.

[Liz]

Yeah, that's wild.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yep. You'll get to see. You'll get to see the dummy lab, maybe hold a crash test dummy and.

[Kelly]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yeah. At some point, we'll go back to the. To the crash hall, and the crash is very quick. It's violent. Crashes are violent. You don't really think about it that much when you're looking at things like crash test video, because all of that is, like, in slow motion.

[Kelly]

Yeah.

[Jessica Jermakian]

You know, it's. But when you see it live, it's over like that. But it is still really cool. It's loud. The crash will happen. We'll be standing up on a gantry kind of looking over the crash hall. And then when the. When everything gets a little bit cleaned up, like the glass off the floor and so we don't. Aren't stepping on, you know, fluids from the vehicle and things like that, then they'll invite us down and we can take a closer look at the vehicles.

[Kelly]

Oh, my gosh.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

I am.

[Kelly]

I am so excited. So I will be. Don't worry, everyone. I'm gonna be creating a ton of content, as much as you guys will allow me, and. Yeah, I can't wait. Okay, next was such a random question. I just want to know your opinion on this. Would you ever get in a Waymo?

[Jessica Jermakian]

Oh, for sure.

[Kelly]

You would. Okay. Like, you would take awaymo.

[Jessica Jermakian]

I would take awaymo. I would take awaymo. In fact, I've tried. I've tried in a couple different cities, but I haven't. I tried in Austin before. They were open to the public, so. But I didn't get an opportunity to. And now we have waymos that are testing in D.C. so I've seen them around, but they're not open to the public yet. So I haven't been able to call one. But for sure I would take one.

[Kelly]

I would also. I would also take a whamo. But I'm laughing because there's this, like, I was going to choose this for industry news, but there's this story about this like, neighborhood in Georgia and these waymos got like stuck on a loop and they just kept driving around this cul de sac. Like 50 waymos are just going through this neighborhood.

[Jessica Jermakian]

So. So I've heard some similar stories, some funny things that have happened, certainly some quirky things, but I don't think that that is necessarily. Like, I would still take one. And, and certainly you can call in if there's a problem. Like you can for sure that. But yeah, it is funny to. To. I mean, it's not funny for Waymo. Sorry. Waymo.

[Liz]

No.

[Kelly]

Okay. That's so awesome. Okay, Jessica, before we let you go, after a long day of crash testing at the Iihs, you get home. You have two twin boys, right?

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yep.

[Kelly]

They're hungry. What are you ditching the drive thru with?

[Jessica Jermakian]

So this happened just last night. We got home from something. I was exhausted. Nobody wanted to cook. We talked about getting takeout and instead what we did is this is like my basic. Anytime we need something in 20, 25 minutes, I put a cookie sheet out, throw whatever vegetables I have on, you know, olive oil, salt, pepper, maybe some garlic powder and then some sort of protein. But last night I. We had like hot sausage and I just like picked it up with a spoon and scooped it out and like dumped it on there.

[Kelly]

So it was just like ground sausage?

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yeah, yeah. Oh, and just like chucked it on there. So it was like random chunks of ground sausage. Literally just had like the scoop and then. Then put it in the oven at like 400 for 20 minutes.

[Kelly]

Yeah.

[Jessica Jermakian]

And then put some lemon on it, dumped it in my kids bowls, and that was dinner.

[Kelly]

Wait, sounds. Oh, you know what?

[Jessica Jermakian]

You know what I also added yesterday was gnocchi, but I don't always do that.

[Kelly]

Yeah, like a frozen gnocchi or something

[Jessica Jermakian]

like a, like a shelf stable one.

[Kelly]

Oh, like a shelf stable?

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yeah, they get like puffy and crispy when they're.

[Kelly]

No, that sounds. That sounds really good. And that's a pretty like pantry stable kind of meal. Cuz you could have like frozen veggies or whatever veggies you have. You have the shelf stable noi and then yeah, like choose a protein. Like you know, if you have chicken, great. If you have ground sausage, great. Like if you have hot dogs, great. World's your oyster sounds pretty good actually.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yeah, so whatever.

[Liz]

It was really nice last night.

[Jessica Jermakian]

We did broccoli, onion, like grape tomatoes. And then like at the last minute I was just trying to throw some more, you know, nutrients in there. Like in the last five minutes I threw some spinach on top and then mixed that in.

[Kelly]

Look at you. Okay, that sounds good. I actually have ground sausage that I bought to like make like baked ziti with. But I don't see that in my future. So I honestly might try to do that.

[Liz]

Yeah, it sounds good.

[Kelly]

Yeah, it does sound good.

[Liz]

Crispy.

[Kelly]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jessica Jermakian]

I recommend the hot sausage too. Cause it adds a little kick. Yeah, it was good.

[Liz]

I love that.

[Kelly]

Okay, Jessica, well thank you so much for doing our car podcast yet again. Such good info. Um, just can't say enough. Like I love the ihs. Like I just, I'm such a big fan of your guys work and I'm so excited to see more manufacturers get it together with their second row crash testing. And I really feel like my early prediction is that for 27 we'll have more cars on the list.

[Jessica Jermakian]

That's my hope. That for sure. That's my hope. Although we will raise the bar for 27 so.

[Kelly]

So she likes. Probably not.

[Liz]

You never know.

[Jessica Jermakian]

You never know.

[Kelly]

But I am curious and I know you guys don't. Sorry, last, last, last question. Because I know you guys don't score it like it's very much a pass or fail to us. But I am curious like which minivan is, is like the closest to passing?

[Jessica Jermakian]

Well, so on our website we, we actually give high level information. You know, whether it's a top safety pick. We go down to each individual test where you. But also even within each test test we give all the information if you drill down in the website of why it scored the way it did. And then if you're really technical, we even provide the technical details. So like the actual measurements that we got from the dummy. The actual measurements we got from. Yeah.

[Liz]

Yes.

[Kelly]

You know, I'm not that technical but I'll try.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Yeah, well that is there are multiple levels of information that you can find on our website.

[Liz]

Okay. I love that.

[Kelly]

Oh yeah, I see this. Technical measurements for the test. No, I've. Look at me.

[Jessica Jermakian]

I've really never clicked on them and it's kind of it's down at the bottom, and you have to click on them to see them. But we do have people that are interested in that level of detail.

[Kelly]

That's so cool. Okay, Jessica, well, thank you so much. I'll see you next week.

[Jessica Jermakian]

Excellent. Thanks for having me. See you next week.

[Liz]

Thank you.

[Kelly]

Thank you for listening to the Carpool podcast with Kelly and Liz. Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode. And if you enjoyed riding with us, tell everybody you know there's room in the car for everyone.