Pickups and SUVs still rate poorly in safety tests

More than half of the 87 SUVs and pickups tested by the US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have fallen well short of optimum safety levels, with pickup trucks faring the worst. Other SUV models tested showed only modest improvements in rear-crash protection but, according to the researchers, the vehicles still have a long way to go.

Problems include poor design of the seats and head restraints, which were found to provide inadequate support in most vehicles. Neck injuries are the most common ailments reported in auto crashes, accounting for 2 million insurance claims annually, reports Automotive News.

Safety experts want to see less movement of the head and torso during an impact, which would require higher head restraints and stiffer seats. Vehicles are rated as being good, marginal or poor, and of the 87 SUVs and pickups tested 37 were marginal or poor with only one pickup getting a ‘good’ rating.

Toyota’s Tundra was the only pickup to receive a ‘good’ rating, which also scored four-stars in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration frontal tests. Another star performer was Ford’s new Edge (pictured above), which posted a ‘good’ rating in its first year of rear crash testing.