VIDEO: IIHS confirmed. Only one SUV passed the new crash tests! These fell – Podkapotou.sk

Impact tests are carried out strictly in Europe, but still the same.

For years, EuroNCAP has been striving to give greater priority to active safety, assistance systems, to passive safety. This is sensible, because it is better to prevent accidents effectively or to mitigate them, for example by reducing speed, than to deal with the consequences. It works out, but people are still dying on the roads and it’s not just those driving old cars. Even the x-fold refuted myth of higher safety in the SUV does not increase real traffic safety. So yes, assistants are fine, but when it comes to breaking plastics and twisting metal, it’s better to have proper sheets and well-designed deformation zones on your side.

And this is exactly what the American organization IIHS has been solving for a long time. It was she who introduced the now well-known test called small overlap crash test. The IIHS also started to test the side of the passenger, not only the driver, during the crash tests. And every time he changes his strength or the place of impact a bit, every time x cars fall out of excellent evaluations, which show excellent marks from crash tests. Some brands shamelessly state that cars are built to get five stars (Euro NCAP) in crash tests. They are not primarily concerned with the overall safety of the vehicle, but with the marketing power of the five-star rating, or in the case of the IIHS Top Safety Pick + mark. And many of the cars that now burned down with another slight change in test protocols received just such marks. But IIHS engineers are still bothered by the number of fatal road accidents involving new cars. They found that side impact was a common problem. That is, an impact that has been tested for years, but usually at a low speed (approx. 50 km / h depending on the organization) by an impact into a deformable barrier. A column impact test was once introduced, but its results have not been taken much into the overall assessment in the long run and its impact on the assessment is so small. In addition, the pillar test is performed by hitting the B-pillar, which is the strongest part of the side of the self-supporting body. Something completely different would be to make this bump into the middle of the door …

I would like to remind you that the previous side test was done at a speed of 50 km / h with a deformable obstacle with a weight of almost 1500 kg. The new test is performed only with a slight increase in speed to about 60 km / h and an increase in the weight of the “obstacle” (crashing vehicle) to 1900 kg. This speed and weight are more in line with today’s cars and the forces that cars have to face in a side impact. This seems like a relatively small increase, but the new test generates up to 80% more energy than the previous test. In short – it’s a test in which an average modern medium-sized SUV with an internal combustion engine hits the car (not to mention 2.5-ton electric cars).

The result? Out of 20 cars, only one passed the test. Only one car passed the Good rating. Mazda CX-5. Acceptable results were recorded by Audi Q3, Buick Encore, Chevrolet Trax, Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue (XTrail), Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4, Toyota Venza, and Volvo XC40. Eight cars, namely the Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Escape (Kuga), GMC Terrain, Hyundai Tucson, Jeep Compass, Jeep Renegade, Kia Sportage, and Lincoln Corsair, received a marginal rating, ie a “limit” rating (threat of serious injury). Honda HR-V and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross cars received a “poor” rating, ie poor with very serious injuries to the crew.

For IIHS, the results are not at all a surprise, they expected them. Similar to the right-hand test in small overlap tests, where manufacturers visibly did not give such reinforcements as on the driver’s side – the percentage risk of injury was very similar, but manufacturers defended themselves by saying that the threat of a collision was mainly on the driver’s side.

We’ll see what the new tests do to manufacturers, but I don’t expect brands like Volvo or Subaru to keep these results cool, and other manufacturers will try to improve.