Photo: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety / Courtesy
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the United States (IHSS) has developed a new crash test that has been applied to SUVs small to measure their resistance to strong side impacts and the safety they offer their occupants. The development of this test stems from a concern: deaths and injuries that continue to occur around high-speed accidents with these characteristics. According to the details offered by this organization, they were tested 20 Similar vehicles of different makes, belonging to the model year 2020 and 2021. The result of the investigation was revealing: only one vehicle received a good safety rating.
The new IIHS side test is performed by impacting the vehicle with a much higher barrier heavier than that used in the conventional test . This barrier weighs 4, 180 pounds and the speed that is printed is much higher to intensify the impact. The weight of this barrier represents that of a similar vehicle traveling at a speed of 33 mph.
“Obviously these results are not great, but they are in line with what we expected when we adopted this more stringent test”, says IIHS Principal Research Engineer Becky Mueller, whose research formed the basis for the new test protocol . “There is no single reason why so many side accidents continue to cause fatalities, but these results provide a roadmap for specific improvements that can save lives.”
In addition to the Mazda CX-5 2021, which turned out to be the safest, another nine SUVs fell into the category of “acceptable” : Audi Q3, Buick Encore, Chevrolet Trax, Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4, Toyota Venza and Volvo XC 40. All the others had very poor grades.
With this new test, the IIHS also offers guidance for manufacturers to perform the corresponding adjustments to improve the safety of these cars as soon as possible . Although it may seem very low, the “good” rating achieved by just one of these vehicles translates into a 70% less likely to die from side impacts.
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