Consumer Report: Rear Seat Safety

Most small pickup trucks fall short of protecting passengers in the back seat.

The safety was put to the test by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and ranked in four categories—good, acceptable, marginal, or poor.

“We tested five small pickups, and none of them received a good rating. Four out of the five received a marginal or poor rating,” said Jessica Jermakian the Vice President of Vehicle Research for IIHS.

HOW DID THEY RATE?

The Nissan Frontier is rated acceptable. The Ford Ranger is rated marginal. The Chevrolet Colorado, Jeep Gladiator, and Toyota Tacoma are all rated poor. The ratings only apply to the crew cab versions.

“In four out of the five pickups, we saw the rear-seated dummy, their head get a little too close to the front seat back, putting them at risk of hitting the front seat. “

For a vehicle to earn a good rating, there can’t be an excessive risk of injury to the head, neck, chest, or thigh to the back seat dummy.

“We saw some of the pickups showed an increased risk of injuries to the neck and the chest. And in one case we saw an incidence of 'submarining,' or when the lap belt rides over the pelvis into the abdomen, which can put an occupant at risk of abdominal injuries.”

IIHS updated the moderate overlap testing last year after finding automakers were making safety improvements to the front seats but not the back.

“All of these vehicles got a good in our original moderate overlap test, and so the differentiator is really the performance of the rear seat,” said Jermakian.

Jermakian hopes the research incentivizes automakers to make improvements and encourages passengers to buckle up to get the most safety out of the rear seat.

The IIHS says even with these developments, the back seat remains the safest place for young children, who can be injured by an inflating front airbag.