Detroit — Despite failing the most recent frontal collision testing conducted by the insurance sector, tiny SUVs are just as safe as before.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety modified the test to focus a greater emphasis on the safety of rear-seat occupants.
Only the Ford Escape and Volvo XC40 received the highest “good” rating in this year’s testing results, which were announced on Tuesday. The Toyota RAV4 was rated “average,” while the Audi Q3, Nissan Rogue, and Subaru Forester received “marginal” ratings.
The “bad” rating was given to the Buick Encore, Chevrolet Equinox, Honda CR-V and HR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Compass, Jeep Renegade, Mazda CX-5, and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross.
President of the IIHS David Harkey stated that the test is being modified because vehicle constructions, air bags, and seat belts have rendered the front seats of SUVs safer than the rear seats. Harkey stated that the danger of fatal injury for rear-seat passengers is now 46% greater than for front-seat drivers.
“Previously, we were just concerned with how effectively the driver was protected,” stated Harkey. It’s not that the vehicle’s safety has diminished.
The institute has a history of modifying its widely seen tests in an effort to encourage automakers to improve safety, and according to Harkey, automakers typically respond to these modifications.
Backseat passengers restrained by safety belts are susceptible to head and neck injuries, and in many SUVs, the belts are very low-tech and merely tighten in a collision.
Harkey stated that modern seatbelts are equipped with sensors that detect an impending collision and pull a passenger into the right seating position prior to a collision, thereby lowering the passenger’s vehicle speed. Upon contact, they loosen slightly to prevent the belts from rising off the pelvis and into the abdomen, where they could cause severe internal injuries, he explained.
Some automakers have already installed more advanced seatbelts in their rear seats, something that can be done without a major model update, according to Harkey. “The industry has always been responsive to the tests we’ve implemented,” he said. “We anticipate that they will do so in this instance, and that they will be able to do so swiftly.”
Small SUVs perform poorly in a new, more rigorous side-impact test.
The institute tested injuries to rear-seat passengers using a crash dummy that depicts a tiny woman or a 12-year-old child. According to Harkey, the dummy does a decent job of demonstrating the risk to passengers of all sizes.
In 1995, when the IIHS launched the moderate overlap front crash test, the majority of vehicles were rated inadequate or poor. Automakers responded with sturdier frames and air bags to make front-seat passengers safer, and all 15 models of small SUVs used to receive high marks.
In the original moderate overlap test, a vehicle approaches an aluminum barrier at 40 mph. About forty percent of the vehicle’s width collides with the barrier on the driver-side.
Some of the tested SUVs feature more advanced rear safety belts, but the timing must be improved to perform better in the moments before and after a collision, according to Harkey. Now they must determine whether they are firing at the correct time, he said.
The most popular new vehicles sold in the United States are compact SUVs. According to Edmunds.com, compact and subcompact SUVs account for 23.4% of all new vehicle sales so far this year.
»Majority of compact SUVs fail the insurance industry’s updated frontal crash testing«