Certain Crash Tests Are Problematic for Your Favorite Pickup Truck

• Bigger vehicles aren't necessarily safer, whether you're a rear-seat passenger, a pedestrian, or even someone who drives a smaller car.

• Pickup trucks are enormously popular, increasingly used as a family hauler as well as a work machine.

• Because of this, the IIHS says rear-seat safety needs to be revised significantly, targeting all of America's favorite pickup nameplates.

Safety is relative to many factors, both environmental and individual, but there are certain undeniable facets of driving safety. Among these are size and inertia, which heavily influence the public's perception of what makes a safe car.

Many buyers purchase SUVs and trucks as a result, even if the broader safety impact of these vehicles tells a different story. However, for personal safety, the proof is in the pudding, as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety releases its latest round of crash testing on America's favorite pickup trucks.

In testing 2023 crew-cab models of the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Ram 1500, and Toyota Tundra, the IIHS wanted to update its side-impact results as well as put these best sellers up against its new moderate overlap front crash test.

Compared to the rest of the road-going market, the side-impact crash tests were much easier for trucks to earn passing marks, in large part due to the excessive ride height exhibited by modern trucks. Notably, three of the four trucks received the highest grade of good on the IIHS updated side-impact test, leaving the Chevrolet Silverado behind.

Due to a marginal rating in its ability to protect rear-seat passengers from torso trauma in a T-bone collision, the 2023 Silverado received an overall side-impact rating of acceptable. But the Chevy wasn't alone in its safety shortcomings when faced with the new moderate overlap crash test.

"Like most other vehicle classes, large pickups don’t perform as well in the new moderate overlap evaluation as they do in the updated side test, which is now a requirement for our Top Safety Pick awards," said IIHS President David Harkey.