Front-seat passengers in small SUVs more at risk of injury than drivers

25 Jun 2016

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Drivers of small sport utility vehicles (SUVs) sold in the US may by quite safe, but front seat passenger must fasten their seat belt, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has warned.

In a test the IIHS tested the right side of the vehicle for safety. The 2015 Toyota RAV4 received a "poor" rating and the 2014 Nissan Rogue and 2014 Subaru Forester measured "marginal." Three other 2015 SUVs, the Buick Encore, Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5, were deemed "acceptable" and the only model rated  "good" was the 2016 Hyundai Tucson.

All of these cars received a "good" rating for driver's side collisions and performed well in other crash tests, but the IIHS simulated a 40-mile-per-hour crash that would likely occur if an SUV swerved into a telephone pole or tree with only the right corner hitting the fixed object.

The IIHS is the only organisation conducting this test.

"A poor rating indicates a high likelihood of serious or life-threatening injuries in a crash of this kind," said IIHS spokesman Russ Rader said. The test showed that a "maximum intrusion" in a 40-mile-per-hour crash for the RAV4 was 13 inches more than the driver's side.

The intrusion knocked off the door hinge pillar and opened the door. In a real life situation a passenger not wearing a seat belt would be ejected.

The results led the IIHS to consider including a passenger-side rating as part of its Top Safety Pick criteria. Over 1,600 right-front passengers died in frontal crashes in 2014.

IIHS introduced the small overlap test in 2012, after the moderate overlap front test was founc to be instrumental in spurring automakers to make improvements.

While the moderate overlap test involved 40 per cent of the width of the vehicle, the small overlap test involved only 25 per cent. The test was designed to replicate what happened when the front corner of a vehicle collided with another vehicle or an object like a tree or utility pole.

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