In December, the The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its recently reworked moderate frontal overlap crash test. The difference was that there was now a 12-year-old boy or small woman-sized dummy in the back to assess the safety of rear passengers. According to the organisation, the chances of a fatality in the rear had exceeded those in the front, which had been the most dangerous position for years. While the newly modified test is not yet part of its official testing for Top Safety Pick awards, it is sure to become the standard and the organization is testing selected vehicles with it in the meantime. He recently tested five small cars, mostly sedans, and found the backseat protection needs significant improvement.
The five vehicles tested were the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Subaru Crosstrek, Kia Forte AND Nissan Sentra. THE Civic AND Corolla he did his best, but only got the second highest score of “Acceptable”. THE Crosstrek, Strong AND Come in all were rated with the lowest “Poor” rating. Across the board, all vehicles showed the sub wearing seat belts, which is when the lap belt portion slides up from the waist, increasing the chance of abdominal injuries. However, the Civic and the Corolla performed well in protecting the three areas IIHS look: chest, thigh and head and neck. The last three models showed a much higher risk of head, neck and chest injuries, with ratings ranging from ‘Poor’ to ‘Marginal’.
These little cars are certainly not the only ones to exhibit a disparity between front and rear safety. Several other vehicles tested by IIHS with the new overlap test also performed poorly. So it’s certainly not just a problem with small cars, but across all segments.
The IIHS has a few suggestions for improving backseat results. In the video above, seat belt pretensioners along with force limiters (to hold the passenger in place at first, but to start releasing to avoid causing damage to the belt) are in the list.
Additionally, the IIHS pointed out that, despite the lag in rear-seat safety, it’s still the safest seat for children. The reason for this is that airbags it can be harmful to children. Also, the back seat is not less sure as before. The reason the front end is getting safer is due to massive improvements in front passenger safety, with a focus on airbags, seat belts, pretensioners and structural improvements.
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