DETROIT — Only three of seven midsize SUVs from the 2015 model year performed well in front-end crash tests done by an insurance industry group.
The Nissan Murano and Jeep Wrangler four-door got the highest, or “good,” rating in the latest round of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety small overlap crash tests. The Ford Flex got the second-best, or “acceptable,” rating in the test, which mimics what happens when a car’s front corner collides with another vehicle or an object such as a utility pole.
The Dodge Durango, Jeep Cherokee and Hyundai Santa Fe got “marginal” ratings, and the Dodge Journey received a “poor” rating on the test, in which 25 percent of a vehicle’s front end strikes a barrier at 40 mph.
The test is more demanding than the U.S. government’s head-on frontal crash test. The institute uses its crash test scores to prod automakers into adding safety devices or making their cars more crash- resistant.
