Small crossovers struggle in tougher IIHS crash test

WASHINGTON — The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says only two of 15 cars in the small crossover category received an overall “Good” rating in the first U.S. head-on crash test, which included a rear dummy. announced.

The 2022-23 Ford Escape and 2021-23 Volvo XC40, built after May, were the only vehicles to receive a “Good” rating in the Institute’s latest Moderate Overlap Front Rating.

Although the Institute classifies the vehicle as a “small SUV”, car news Classify them as crossovers.

A more difficult crash test adds a dummy representing a small woman or a 12-year-old child in the second row behind the driver. It also uses a new metric that focuses on the injuries most commonly seen in rear seat passengers.

The 2021-2023 model year Toyota RAV4 received an “acceptable” rating, while the Audi Q3, Nissan Rogue and Subaru Forester in those model years received a “slight” rating.

Vehicles with low ratings are:

• 2021-22 Buick Encore

• 2021-23 Chevrolet Equinox

• 2021-22 Honda CR-V

• 2021-22 Honda HR-V

• 2021 Hyundai Tucson

• 2021 Jeep Compass

• 2021-23 Jeep Renegade

• 2021-22 Mazda CX-5

• 2022-23 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

However, in the laboratory’s first crash tests, which began in 1995, all 15 vehicles received a “good” rating. In this test, the vehicle is moving toward the barrier at 40 mph and a dummy representing an average-sized man is placed in the driver’s seat.

The new version uses the same test speeds, offsets and barriers as the original, the lab said.

“The original moderate overlap test was our first evaluation and a cornerstone of the Institute’s crash test program,” IIHS President David Harkey said in a statement. “Thanks to automakers’ improvements, most car drivers are now nearly 50% less likely to die in a head-on collision than they were 25 years ago.”

Harkey said the updated crash tests are “a challenge for manufacturers to bring the same benefits to the back seat.”

To receive a “good” rating, measurements recorded by the sensors on the second row dummy must be “beyond the limits indicating excessive risk of injury to the head, neck, chest, abdomen, or thighs.” It shouldn’t,” said the insurer-funded institute.

Rear occupants may also benefit from crash tensioners, which tighten seatbelts and keep front-seat occupants from lurching forward, the lab said. Other features, such as rear-seat airbags and seatbelts that inflate to reduce the impact of crash forces, may also help. , said the institute.

Marcy Edwards, Senior Research Engineer at the Institute, who led the development of the new assessment, said: “This is a great opportunity to quickly provide significant safety benefits by adapting technology that we already know to be effective.”