Washington – Head restraints in dozens of sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and minivans provided only poor or marginal protection from neck injuries in simulated crashes conducted by the insurance industry.
The test results released, being today, found several SUVs had improved protections against whiplash injuries but gave poor marks to vehicles made by several leading automakers, including BMW AG, DaimlerChrysler AG, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said the simulated rear crashes at 20 miles per hour showed that many large vehicles fall short in protecting against neck injuries, which lead to 2 million insurance claims a year costing at least $8.5 billion.
“In stop-and-go commuter traffic, you’re more likely to get in a rear-end collision than any other crash type,” said institute vice president David Zuby. “It’s not a major feat of engineering to design seats and head restraints that afford good protection in these common crashes.”
The institute evaluated 87 current vehicle models based on geometric measurements of the head restraints and their performance in a crash simulation sled. Fifty-four of the vehicles were rated marginal or poor, the two lowest rankings, while a dozen received the second-highest score of acceptable. Twenty-one received the best rating of good.
Automakers said there were many ways to evaluate rear- crash protection and that their vehicles were designed to provide a high degree of safety.
“We feel our test procedures are good predictors of how well our seat/head restraints will protect occupants from neck injuries in the event of a rear impact,” said Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong in an e-mail.
Several SUVs made progress – 17 of 59 SUVs from the 2007 model year received top ratings in the testing, compared with six of 44 SUVs tested in 2006.
Head-restraint tests
Sport utility
Best rating: Acura MDX and RDX; Lincoln MKX, Ford Edge and Ford Freestyle; Honda CR-V, Element and Pilot; Hyundai Santa Fe; Jeep Grand Cherokee; Kia Sorento; Land Rover LR3; Mercedes M Class; Mitsubishi Outlander; Subaru B9 Tribeca and Forester; Volvo XC90
Poor rating: BMW X3 and X5; Buick Rainier, Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy and Isuzu Ascender; Cadillac SRX; Chrysler Pacifica; Dodge Nitro; Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer; Mitsubishi Endeavor; Hummer H3; Hyundai Tucson; Jeep Liberty; Kia Sportage; Lexus GX470 and RX; Nissan Xterra; Saab 9-7X; Suzuki XL7; Toyota 4Runner and Highlander
Pickups
Best rating: Toyota Tundra
Poor rating: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Classic and GMC Sierra 1500 Classic; Dodge Ram 1500; Ford Ranger and Mazda B Series; Nissan Frontier; certain versions of Ford F-150, Dodge Dakota and Mitsubishi Raider
Minivans
Best rating: Ford Freestar; Hyundai Entourage; Kia Sedona
Poor rating: Buick Terraza, Chevrolet Uplander and Saturn Relay; some versions of the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Caravan; Toyota Sienna
Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
