IIHS crash tests: Small trucks' rear-seat passengers are at risk

June 28, 2023 12:00 AM

IIHS

Rear-seat passengers are not well protected by small pickups' safety systems, new moderate overlap front crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found.

The IIHS rated the Nissan Frontier acceptable. The Ford Ranger earned a marginal rating — higher than poor but lower than acceptable — while the Chevrolet Colorado, Jeep Gladiator and Toyota Tacoma all received poor ratings. The ratings only apply to the crew cab versions.

The test propelled vehicles down a 600-foot runway and crashed them into a barrier at 40 mph with 40 percent impact to the front of the vehicle. Driver and rear-seat passenger dummies and cameras in the vehicles helped measure the success of the vehicles' safety systems.

Small trucks lacking in rear-seat safety

Rear-seat passengers are not well protected by small pickups’ safety systems, new crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found. The IIHS rated the Nissan Frontier acceptable, the Ford Ranger marginal — higher than poor but lower than acceptable — and the Chevrolet Colorado, Jeep Gladiator and Toyota Tacoma all poor.

Good

Acceptable

Marginal

Poor

			Driver injury measures					Rear passenger injury measures
	Overall rating	Structure & safety cage	Head & neck	Chest	Knee & thigh	Leg & foot	Driver restraints & kinematics	Head & neck	Chest	Thigh	Rear passenger restraints & kinematics
2022-23 Nissan Frontier crew cab	A	G	G	G	G	G	G	G	G	G	M
2022-23 Ford Ranger crew cab	M	G	G	G	G	G	G	G	M	G	P
2022 Cheverolet Colorado crew cab	P	G	G	G	G	G	G	M	M	G	M
2022-23 Jeep Gladiator	P	G	G	G	G	A	G	M	P	G	A
2022-23 Toyota Tacoma crew cab	P	G	G	G	G	A	G	P	P	G	M

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Highway Loss Data Institute

The IIHS rates the vehicles on how well the vehicle's structure held up, injury measures recorded by two dummies inside the vehicles and how well the restraints controlled the movement of those dummies.

All five vehicles provided good protection for the dummy in the front seat, the tests found, but the rear-seat dummies did not fare as well.

The rear-seat dummy slipped under the seat belt in the Ranger. Shifting of the seat belt from its proper position increases the risk of internal injuries.

In the Ranger, Tacoma, Frontier and Colorado, the rear dummy's head came close to the front seat back.

The Gladiator lacks side curtain airbags, which the IIHS said increases the risk of injury from a hard impact.

The rear-seat dummies in the Colorado, Gladiator and Tacoma recorded a moderate or likely risk of both neck and chest injuries. The dummy in the Ranger recorded moderate risk of chest injuries.

The IIHS has previously tested five popular cars and 28 crossovers and SUVs using the updated test.

Only six — the Ford Explorer, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Subaru Ascent, Tesla Model Y, Ford Escape and Volvo XC40 — have earned good ratings, the highest.