The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is updating its longest-running crash test, the moderate overlap front evaluation, by adding a test dummy to the back seat.<\/p>\n
The move aims to address a growing gap in the protection provided for front and rear occupants.<\/p>\n
The organisation tested 15 small SUVs with the new addition which saw only two, the Ford Escape and Volvo XC40, receiving a good rating.<\/p>\n
The Toyota RAV4 earned an acceptable rating, and the Audi Q3, Nissan Rogue and Subaru Forester were rated marginal. Another nine vehicles \u2014 the Buick Encore, Chevrolet Equinox, Honda CR-V, Honda HR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Compass, Jeep Renegade, Mazda CX-5 and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross \u2014 were rated poor.<\/p>\n
Previously all 15 vehicles earned good ratings in the original evaluation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original moderate overlap test was our first evaluation and the lynchpin of the Institute\u2019s crash testing program,\u201d said IIHS President David Harkey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to automakers\u2019 improvements, drivers in most vehicles are nearly 50 percent less likely to be killed in a frontal crash today than they were 25 years ago. Our updated test is a challenge to manufacturers to bring those same benefits to the back seat. The stellar performance of the Escape and XC40 shows it\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n