2022 Jeep Wrangler tips over in IIHS crash test

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The 2022 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited tipped onto its passenger side in a crash test conducted by the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), despite structural modifications made to the vehicle by the automaker after the 2019 model did the same thing.

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The tip occurred during a driver-side small overlap crash test, which earned it a “marginal” rating for driver-side small overlap protection. In IIHS tests, the top rating is Good, followed in order by Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor. The two-door Wrangler hasn’t yet been rated by the IIHS.

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Despite tipping over, the Wrangler “performed well by the normal metrics used to evaluate performance in the test,” the IIHS said. The safety cage surrounding the driver “held its structure well” and the restraints controlled the dummy’s movements. However, the test indicated a “significant risk of injury to the driver’s left leg and foot,” and the combination head-and-torso airbag did not deploy. The IIHS also said there was an additional risk that isn’t measured in the test, since the Jeep tipped onto the passenger side and the test doesn’t include a dummy in that seat.

The Wrangler was redesigned in 2018. In a crash test done by Stellantis (Jeep’s parent company), and submitted to the IIHS for verification, the 2019 Wrangler didn’t tip over. But it did go on its side when the IIHS, which has its own crash-test facility, performed the same crash test as part of an audit program. When Stellantis asked IIHS to retest it, the Wrangler tipped over again.

The IIHS said Stellantis has been working to address the problem since the 2019 Wrangler failed the test, but obviously hasn’t yet found a solution.