The results are in — and they aren’t good.
In the latest round of side impact crash testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a U.S. nonprofit organization funded by auto insurance companies, the agency put 18 midsize SUVs through its new, tougher side impact testing, and the results for some popular of the most popular SUVs in the segment were eye-opening.
Of the 18 tested, the five most popular in 2021 — the Toyota Highlander (264,128 units), Ford Explorer (219,871), Jeep Wrangler (204,609), Honda Pilot (143,062) and Chevrolet Traverse (116,250) — accounted for 947,920 vehicles, or 6.3% of the new vehicles sold in the United States in 2021. So it is paramount these vehicles are safe.
Surprisingly poor safety
The IIHS tests reveal that the incredibly popular Kia Telluride (seventh most popular, at 93,705 units) and Hyundai Palisade (ranked eighth at 86,539) earned only marginal ratings, as did the equally popular Jeep Wrangler. Other vehicles faring poorly include the Honda Passport, Honda Pilot and Nissan Murano. Two General Motors vehicles, the Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Traverse, managed only acceptable ratings.
It’s not all bad news however.
The Ford Explorer, Infiniti QX60, Lincoln Aviator, Mazda CX-9, Nissan Pathfinder, Subaru Ascent, Toyota Highlander, Volkswagen Atlas, Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport and Volkswagen ID.4 — the only battery electric vehicle tested — all earned good ratings.
“It’s encouraging to see so many midsize SUVs from different automakers earn good ratings in this more challenging evaluation,” says IIHS Senior Research Engineer Becky Mueller, whose research formed the foundation for the new test protocol. “These results will help confirm the adjustments they need to make to other vehicles going forward.”
A new tougher test from IIHS
The IIHS changed its side impact test last year, when the organization started using a heavier barrier traveling at a higher speed to simulate a side impact accident. The new one weighs 4,200 pounds, not 3,300 pounds like in earlier tests, to better approximate the weight of modern SUVs.
The barrier has also been redesigned to act more like an SUV or pickup, which now account more than 80% of car sales. And, it now strikes at 37 mph, not 31 mph as previously used to better approximate the faster speeds that people are driving.
The IIHS gives a vehicle a good rating when the vehicle cabin retains its shape, crash test dummy measurements do not indicate a high risk of injury and the airbags and seat belts prevent the dummies’ heads from hitting any interior components.
How the vehicles fared
All vehicles earned good scores for head injuries, except for the Jeep Wrangler, which garnered a poor rating as it lacks rear seat side airbags. Rear passenger dummy’s head struck the roof’s vertical support and the door window frame, dragging its rating down to marginal despite good crash ratings otherwise.
Surprisingly, the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, Honda Pilot, Honda Passport, Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride all earned marginal scores for their passenger compartment structure. The Nissan Murano earned a poor rating for structure.
The Wrangler earns a good rating, its poor head protection led to its marginal rating overall. And the Wrangler along with the Mazda CX-9 and Volkswagen ID.4 earn good ratings for preventing injuries to the driver’s pelvis, the most common injury in crashes. The Subaru Ascent, Lincoln Aviator, Buick Enclave, Ford Explorer and Chevrolet Traverse earned acceptable scores.
Yet despite earning good ratings, the Volkswagen Atlas, Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport, Toyota Highlander, Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX60 revealed a moderate risk of severe injury to the driver’s pelvis. But the driver’s head, chest and abdomen remained well-protected, the agency said.
Safer than smaller SUVs
That said, when it comes to crash testing, size matters because the laws of physics still apply. So it’s little surprise that the same test held in October yielded even worse results.
Of the 20 small SUVs tested by IIHS in October 2021, only one, the Mazda CX-5, earned a good rating.
Nine vehicles, including the Audi Q3, Buick Encore, Chevrolet Trax, Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4, Toyota Venza and Volvo XC40, earned acceptable ratings. Eight others — the Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Escape, GMC Terrain, Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Compass, Jeep Renegade, Kia Sportage and Lincoln Corsair — yielded marginal ratings.
Two others, the Honda HR-V and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, ranked poor.
“We developed this new test because we suspected there was room for more progress, and these results confirm that,” IIHS President David Harkey says. “The good rating for the CX-5 shows that robust protection in a more severe side crash is achievable.”
” … accounted for 947,920 vehicles, or 0.94% of the new vehicles sold in the United States in 2021.”
We should hope.