Harder test for automakers

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the US may be adding yet another front crash test. The ‘small overlap crash’ has caused headaches for automakers since it was introduced in 2012. Cars are run into a barrier at 64kph with all the impact hitting the driver’s side, rather than head on. The institute says the idea behind it is that many accidents don’t just involve head-on collisions, but also side-on, such as hitting a tree or pole. Carmakers initially had problems passing the test, but large numbers are now getting ‘good’ ratings. The IIHS now plan to test the same scenario, but with the impact hitting the front passenger side of the car. The institute says the proposed test is important, as front passengers are also vulnerable in accidents, with around 1600 front passengers dying in the US in 2014 front crashes alone. However, out of seven SUVs who achieved good ratings on the driver’s-side test, only one, the 2016 Hyundai Tucson, passed the passenger test. The rest were rated poor or acceptable. The worst-performing vehicle was the 2015 Toyota RAV4, which had 33 more centimetres of intrusion on the passenger’s side than on the driver’s. A door also opened during the test, which increased the risk of passenger ejection. David Zuby, the institute’s executive vice president and chief research officer, says: “It's not surprising that automakers would focus their initial effort to improve small overlap protection on the side of the vehicle that we conduct tests on.” The results were similar between cars that appeared to have the same construction on both sides compared to those that didn’t. Becky Mueller, a senior research engineer at IIHS, says: “Some vehicle structures look the same on both sides, but they don't perform the same.”