In the United States, everything is bigger. Both the food portions and the cars. But a new American study shows that the XXL SUVs driving around there are not the epitome of safety.
If you travel a lot with your family, you buy a large SUV. They are comfortable and above all safe, right? Wrong! A study by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that the safety in several mid-size SUVs is not so good. The term “mid-size” is by US standards, so we should take this with a large grain of salt.
Backseat passengers turn out to be neglected
Modern cars are packed with safety systems, but these are especially effective for the people sitting in the front of the car, according to the study. The rear seat passengers turn out to be a neglected child.
This conclusion was reached based on crash tests with a child-sized dummy. This was placed behind the driver’s seat of a car that the researchers crashed in a controlled manner. By covering the dummy with sensors, the damage could be mapped. And in many cases that didn’t work out well.
A big fail
Six SUVs from the test fell through the basket and scored a big unsatisfactory. Passengers are least safe in the back seat of the Honda Pilot, Hyundai Palisade, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, Mazda CX-9 and Nissan Murano. Of the cars in the list, only the Jeeps are available in the Netherlands. The other SUVs are simply too big for the small Netherlands.
The security issues are obvious. For example, the lap belt on the Wrangler moved, while on the CX-9, Grand Cherokee, Palisade and Pilot the belt tension was too high. The curtain airbags of some SUVs were also inadequate or missing completely.
Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E the safest
Fortunately, the investigation was not a big bad news show. The Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E, for example, scored excellently. The latter even scored the highest rating in all 11 research categories. The Model Y did this in 10 of 11 parts. The two EVs were labeled “top safety picks” by the IIHS. Fortunately, you can buy those models in the Netherlands.