But based on CR’s tally of 2022 model-year vehicles from the SaferCar database maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), only about 51 percent of mainstream models have pretensioners and load limiters in the back seat. It’s tests like these that spur automakers to make those changes.”įor example, the front seat belts on most newer cars have pretensioners, which tighten the belt at the onset of a crash, and load limiters, which let the belt spool out a bit to reduce any jerking force that might injure a person’s chest. “However, now is the time to take those safety learnings from the front and focus on the back seat. “Historically, crash testing has targeted safety advancements for front seat passengers and improved safety overall for all occupants,” Thomas says. Emily Thomas, CR’s manager for auto safety, says that’s because safety has lagged behind for rear occupants, particularly when it comes to advanced restraints. Nearly all of the vehicles that scored a Poor for rear occupants had Good ratings for front occupants. In addition to a dummy in the driver seat, this test now features a dummy in the second row that represents a small woman or a 12-year-old child.

That’s the sort of collision that would occur if one car drifted across the center line of a roadway, for example. The test is representative of crashes in which two vehicles, driving in opposite directions, hit each other at 40 mph but not strictly head-on. This is the second round of vehicles the IIHS has put through its updated “moderate overlap” frontal test the first round, using small SUVs, showed similar results.

The 2022-2023 Chevrolet Traverse, 2022-2023 Toyota Highlander, and 2022-2023 Volkswagen Atlas scored Marginal. At the bottom of the pack were the 2022 Honda Pilot (since redesigned), the 2022-2023 Hyundai Palisade, 2022-2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2021-2023 Jeep Wrangler, 2021-2023 Mazda CX-9, and 2021-2023 Nissan Murano, all of which scored the lowest rating, Poor.

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