Small Cars No Match for SUVs

Most small car designs earned poor ratings in side-impact crash tests recently conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The test represented what happens when a passenger vehicle is struck in the side by a pickup truck or SUV.

“These side-impact results are similar to the results in 1997, when the institute first rated small cars in the frontal offset crash test,” said Adrian Lund, chief operating officer for the IIHS. “Back then, no small car earned a good frontal crash test rating. Now, almost every small car earns a good rating in the frontal test. As manufacturers redesign their vehicles, we expect that small cars will get better in the side-impact test too.”