Most 2022 small pickups pass new IIHS crash test

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Most of the six small pickup trucks sent through the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s updated side crash test earned a passing “Good” or “Acceptable” rating, the safety organization said late November. The Chevrolet Colorado crew cab, GMC Canyon crew cab, and Honda Ridgeline crew cab achieved “Good” ratings; while the Nissan Frontier crew cab and Ford Ranger crew cab were rated “Acceptable.” Unfortunately, Toyota’s Tacoma crew cab came in at “Marginal.”

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The Frontier’s structure held up the best, and the Ranger’s occupant compartment also maintained its shape relatively well, minimizing the risk of most injuries. However, the rear passenger dummies’ heads struck the C-pillar through the side curtain airbag in both vehicles.

The structure and safety cages of the Good-rated Colorado, Canyon, and Ridgeline performed well, with a minimal risk of most injuries. Interestingly, injury measures taken from the dummies showed a possibility of a pelvic fracture for the driver of the Colorado, the Canyon, and, most of all, the Ridgeline.

The Tacoma offered occupants minimal risk of most injuries, but its structure and safety cage were where it did not fare well during the crash. How bad was it? The impact from the striking barrier crumpled the door sill and B-pillar, pushing the B-pillar to within a few inches of the center of the driver seat.

“That alone pushed the overall rating down to marginal. We weight structural performance very heavily because it is tied so closely with survivability,” said IIHS Senior Research Engineer Becky Mueller, whose work formed the foundation for the new evaluation.

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She went on to say overall, this was a solid performance from these vehicles. “Their high ride height means that the barrier we use to represent a striking vehicle hits the strong door sill structures directly,” explained Mueller. “This likely prevented excessive intrusion into the occupant compartment, except in the case of the Tacoma.”

Why is there a new type of evaluation? Well, research illustrated that many of the real-world side impacts that still account for nearly a quarter of passenger-vehicle occupant fatalities are more severe than the original evaluation simulated. 

The new side crash test uses a heavier barrier (4,200 pounds, similar to the weight of modern-day midsize SUVs and crossovers, instead of cars) travelling at a higher speed, to simulate the striking vehicle at 37 mph. This is increased from the outgoing version of the test, which used a 3,300-pound barrier travelling at 31 mph.