Midsize crew-cab pickups are popular vehicles for a family or anyone wanting a versatile but capable light-duty truck to haul people and things. However, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), updated crash tests reveal that rear-seat occupants are at risk for injuries in frontal collisions.
The IIHS said, in an earlier statement, that it updated “its longest-running crash test, the moderate overlap front evaluation, to address a growing gap in the protection provided for front and rear occupants.” This updated test, launched in December, applies to all new passenger vehicles. The update was made not because of worsening safety for rear passengers but because it wasn’t improving on par with driver safety.
The midsize crew-cab trucks tested included the 2022 Chevrolet Colorado, 2022-2023 Ford Ranger, 2022-2023 Jeep Gladiator, 2022-2023 Nissan Frontier, and the 2022-2023 Toyota Tacoma. The trucks were given grades of Good, Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor.
All trucks tested earned grades of Good or Acceptable for different measures of driver safety. For rear passengers, only the Frontier and Ranger received Good grades for head and neck injuries, the Colorado and Gladiator earned Marginal marks, and the Tacoma rated as Poor. Measuring for chest injuries in back-seat passenger dummies, only the Frontier received a Good rating. The Colorado and Ranger were Marginal in this category, and the Gladiator and Tacoma were Poor. All five trucks earned Good scores in thigh injury measures for rear occupants.
In the rear passenger restraints and kinematics category, the Gladiator ranked the best, earning an Acceptable grade, while the Ranger did the worst, receiving a Poor grade. The other three pickups achieved Marginal scores in restraints and kinematics testing.
“For a vehicle to earn a Good rating, there can’t be an excessive risk of injury to the head, neck, chest or thigh, as recorded by the second-row dummy,” the IIHS says.
None of the five trucks tested earned an overall rating of Good. The Frontier had the best overall grade, earning an Acceptable from the IIHS. The Ranger’s overall grade was Marginal, while the Colorado, Gladiator, and Tacoma all received an overall rating of Poor.
IIHS President David Harkey notes the “updated moderate overlap front crash test proved to be challenging for small pickups.”
“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,” Harkey said.
