There won’t be any gold stars for the makers of several pickups based on crash test results announced Wednesday affecting back-seat passengers.
None of the five crew cab trucks tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety — the Chevrolet Colorado, Ford Ranger, Jeep Gladiator, Nissan Frontier or Toyota Tacoma — earned a good rating in the institute’s updated moderate overlap front crash test, according to a news release, which lists all of them as small pickups.
Three rated poor (Colorado, Gladiator and Tacoma); the Ranger was marginal and the Frontier was listed as acceptable, said the release. The Colorado was listed as a 2022 model; the others were listed as 2022-23.
More:Ford’s Mustang Mach-E scores highest in crash safety test among 13 midsize SUVs
Institute President David Harkey said the test proved to be challenging for the pickups.
“A common problem was that the rear passenger dummy’s head came dangerously close to the front seatback, and in many cases, dummy measurements indicated a risk of neck or chest injuries. All these things tell us that the rear seat belts need improvement,” Harkey said in the release.
The institute said it updated the test last year after research showed a higher risk for belted passengers in the rear seat than for belted passengers in front, but it noted that the rear isn’t less safe, it’s just that the front seat is safer because of better air bags and seat belts.
That back seat, the release said, is still the safest place for young children because of the potential for injuries from inflating air bags.
More:NHTSA wants voluntary commitment on new braking rules from automakers
Joe Young, an institute spokesman, said in an email that “the moderate overlap crash test is a 40 mph, 40% offset crash. So only 40% of the vehicle’s width engages the barrier,” which is actually more challenging than a full width barrier because the crash energy is concentrated in a smaller area.
In the latest results, all five trucks provided good protection for the front seat, with a slightly higher risk of foot and leg injuries in the Gladiator and Tacoma.
But it was worse in the back.
“In the Colorado, Frontier, Ranger and Tacoma, the restraints in the back seat allowed the rear dummy’s head to come too close to the front seatback. That was not an issue for the Gladiator. However, its rear restraints do not include a side curtain airbag, increasing the risk of injury from a hard impact with the interior of the vehicle or even something outside it,” the release said. “In the Ranger, the rear dummy submarined beneath the lap belt, causing it to ride up from the ideal position on the pelvis onto the abdomen, which increases the risk of internal injuries. Otherwise, injury measures taken from the rear dummy indicated a moderate or likely risk of both neck and chest injuries in the poor-rated Colorado, Gladiator and Tacoma and a moderate risk of chest injuries in the marginal-rated Ranger.”
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.