Not All Vehicles React the Same in a Crash

By: Scott Perry

Recent safety tests show that not all vehicles react the same in a crash. While some may think this statement is obvious – a small car may not fare as well as bigger car for example (an apples to orange test) – the true results may surprise you.

In a recent test by the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) {http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/midsize-suvs-disappoint-in-small-overlap-front-crash-testhttp://}  it looked at the results of nine midsized SUV’s at the small offset frontal impact. The purpose of this test is to simulate a vehicle impacting the corner of another vehicle, a tree, or a pole. This test is more demanding on a vehicle then the government’s standard front-end collision testing.

As you can see from the results in the link above, most of the vehicles involved in the test did not do a good job of protecting the occupants in the vehicle. The video in the link shows the violent forces imparted onto the vehicle and to the occupant inside.

If you think the results for these midsize SUV’s were bad, only one out of eleven mini-cars tested passed the same test when performed by the IIHS. Clearly, not all vehicles react the same to crashes and although some promise feature to help protect you from injury, results show this may not be the case.

If you or a loved one have been injured in a crash, call an attorney to find out how to best protect your rights.