COULD CRASH TESTS BE KELLY'S NEXT MICRO-HOBBY?
5/20/202653 min
Lizz is officially in her third trimester but don't ask her if she is ready. The world has stopped until the Car Mom Auto Show and there's nothing else to talk about. Kelly is feeling the same, except when it comes to George's 7th birthday. She reveals what she got him this year and which one she thinks will be the biggest hit. Insurprisingly, Kelly is also working on a new micro-hobby: perfecting taking people a meal. Will she have it right by the time Lizz gives birth? Then it's time for a chat with one of our favorite guests, Jessica Jermakian from the IIHS. There was a lot of talk about the 2026 and all the vehicles that were suddenly no longer top safety picks. So what happened? Jessica explains why changes in the testing and requirements pushed certain cars out. Also, Kelly is on her way to visit the IIHS headquarters, and Jessica will tell her what to expect.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsKelly Stumpe· Host0:00
[upbeat music] 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- Wow ...
Lizz St. John· Host0:10
for homemade meals for the month of April. I know. Now, I'm n- as of today, I'm not there. Wouldn't dream of it.
Kelly Stumpe· Host0:17
And Liz.
Lizz St. John· Host0:18
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 [laughs] that she's pregnant right now." Like- [laughs] ... the baby is, like, separate.
Kelly Stumpe· Host0:27
Your mom time-off starts now. Welcome back to the Carpool Podcast with Kelly.
Lizz St. John· Host0:34
And Liz.
Kelly Stumpe· Host0:34
And we just wrapped... So here's what ... This episode is gonna be so good. We just wrapped, like, one of my favorite interviews ever with Jessica Germakean.
Lizz St. John· Host0:43
Mm-hmm.
Kelly Stumpe· Host0:43
The h- queen of the IIHS. I don't remember her title.
Lizz St. John· Host0:46
Like, I think that's her, I think that's her official title is the queen.
Kelly Stumpe· Host0:49
Um, like, the 2026 top safety pick list, like, really made some headlines. Like, respectfully, like, it's t- 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.
Lizz St. John· Host1:10
You know what we, like, love is we love a girl with high standards.
Kelly Stumpe· Host1:15
Totally.
Lizz St. John· Host1:16
And the IIHS standards are, just continue to get higher, and we love that.
Kelly Stumpe· Host1:22
Wait, that's like their whole shtick. Like, every year they're like, "Oh, you passed? Well, now we're gonna make it harder."
Lizz St. John· Host1:26
Harder.
Kelly Stumpe· Host1:26
Like, [laughs] they're so funny like that.
Lizz St. John· Host1:27
I know. They're, like, constantly thinking of ways that they can, like,