« EXPLORER SUV CLASS ACTION APPROVED IN CALIFORNIA | Main | NHTSA PROPOSING SAFETY-INFO LABELS FOR NEW CARS »
February 01, 2006
IIHS ASSESSES HEAD RESTRAINTS, FINDS MANY WANTING
“Only 6 of the seat/head restraint combinations in 44 current model SUVs are rated good for protection against whiplash injuries in rear-end crashes. None of the seat/head restraint designs in 15 pickup truck models earns a good rating. Overall 4 out of 5 SUV and pickup seat/head restraints recently evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety are rated marginal or poor for whiplash protection.”
This was IIHS’s conclusion after completing its first tests of SUVs and pickup trucks using a dummy that can measure forces on the neck during a simulated rear-end crash. It said that only the seats in the Ford Freestyle, Honda Pilot, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Land Rover LR3, Subaru Forester, and Volvo XC90 models earned good overall ratings. Among those earning poor ratings are seat/head restraints in popular models such as the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, Ford Explorer, and Toyota 4Runner SUVs plus the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and some seats in Ford F-150 and Dodge Dakota pickups.
For details of the Institute’s findings, CLICK HERE.
Posted by MVHAP at February 1, 2006 05:39 PM