Only one large SUV stands out in IIHS crash tests
As we've seen with mid-size SUVs, vehicle size doesn't necessarily guarantee better occupant protection, and can lead to a false sense of security on the road. New crash tests carried out on full-size SUVs demonstrate this once again.
The U.S.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently compared three popular models: the Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition and Jeep Wagoneer. Only the latter met the requirements for a Top Safety Pick award.
The Tahoe and Expedition respectively scored acceptable and marginal in the small overlap frontal crash test, a test that over 90% of new vehicles have passed since 2021.
“The huge mass of these large SUVs provides some extra protection in collisions with smaller vehicles, but on the other hand, there's a lot more force to deal with in an impact with a fixed obstacle like a tree, bridge abutment or the low wall we use in our frontal crash tests,” explains IIHS president David Harkey.
It's worth noting that in the medium overlap frontal crash test, whose criteria were tightened notably with the addition of a dummy in the second row, none of the three offered good protection for rear passengers, even though they are mainly used to transport families and groups of people. The Wagoneer and Expedition received marginal marks, while the Tahoe received the worst.
The Expedition is the only one with second-row belt pre-tensioners to reduce upper-body forces, but the measurements recorded by the dummy were no better. What's more, its side-curtain airbag failed to deploy in the collision.
In the case of the Tahoe, the IIHS observed a high risk of injury to the head and neck, as well as an increased risk of injury to the abdomen because the dummy began to slide under the belt.
In the side-impact test, all three large SUVs scored well. Two did the same in the pedestrian collision avoidance test, but the Tahoe could do no better than a marginal result, mainly due to the poor performance of its system in dark conditions. By the way, the IIHS has few good words to say about the quality of these vehicles' headlights.
