Most Small Pickup Trucks Have Unsafe Back Seats: IIHS

The last time the IIHS did some backseat safety testing, it concluded that the rear seats of small cars such as the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic weren't very safe. In fact, very few small cars were even rated as acceptable by the IIHS, with most of them getting poor backseat safety ratings. Now, it seems that lack of backseat safety applies to small pickups as well.

These backseat safety tests are done in the moderate overlap front crash test, in which a car hits a deformable barrier at 40 mph but not directly head-on. Instead, the car hits the barrier with only the driver's side half of the front end. Not only is that far more common of a real-world collision than a direct hit, but it's also a more difficult test to pass, so it's a good indication of how safe a car is. During the moderate overlap test, none of the five pickups tested received good marks.

“Our updated moderate overlap front crash test proved to be challenging for small pickups,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “A common problem was that the rear passenger dummy's head came dangerously close to the front seatback, and in many cases, dummy measurements indicated a risk of neck or chest injuries. All these things tell us that the rear seat belts need improvement.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJtH0ycBjfQ\u0026list=PL5RxiGTHpKTElE8pfzL8e42UQarc9kyx2\u0026t=1s