The renowned American non-profit organization IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) announced last week that it had reworked its important semi-frontal crash test. Engineers will now place a dummy similar in size to that of a small woman or a 12-year-old child to see what level of protection the rear passengers have in this type of collision.
To inaugurate this updated test, the team put 15 compact and subcompact SUVs, hugely popular segments, through their paces. These results can therefore be generalized to a large pool of vehicles found on North American roads. To properly assess the effects of the collision, emphasis was placed on potential injuries to the head, neck, chest, abdomen and hips. The IIHS states that the most common injuries in rear passengers during a collision affect the abdomen due to a displacement of the seat belt.
Of the 15 vehicles tested, 9 obtained ratings qualified as “ Poor or “Bad”: Buick Encore, Chevrolet Equinox, Honda CR-V (2021-2022), Honda HR-V (2021-2022), Hyundai Tucson (2021), Jeep Compass (2021), Jeep Renegade, Mazda CX- 5 and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross. Interestingly, all of these models landed scores labeled as “ Good or “Good” for driver protection. This suggests a disparity in protection between the front and rear. IIHS reports that due to improvements to front occupant safety that have not carried over to the rear, rear passengers are 46% more likely to be killed in a crash since 2007.
Only two vehicles obtained the score of ” Good or “Good” as a result of these crash tests. Ford Escapes assembled after May 2022 and Volvo XC40s adequately protect rear passengers in the eyes of the IIHS. Now let’s hope that manufacturers take note of these scores to improve safety, as has been the case in the recent past.