IIHS May Add “Small Overlap” Crash Test for Passenger Side

A severe test used to check a vehicle’s ability to protect the driver in an offset crash may be expanded next year to the passenger’s side of the vehicle.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is floating the idea after discovering big differences when its so-called “small overlap” frontal crash test for the driver’s side was performed on the passenger’s side of several small SUVs.

The IIHS test requires the left 25% of a vehicle’s front end to absorb 100% of the energy of a 40-mph impact. The test simulates a crash in which a vehicle clips a pole, tree or edge of an oncoming car.

Manufacturers have beefed up their vehicles since IIHS introduced the test four years ago. But they haven’t necessarily strengthened the passenger’s side in the same way.

The institute points to the outcome of its tests on both front corners of seven small 2016 model SUVs. All the vehicles earned top ratings in the driver's side crash test. But only one, the Hyundai Tucson, delivered the same protection on the passenger's side of the vehicle.

Three other SUVs—the Buick Encore, Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5—earned second-best provisional ratings for the passenger side. Two models—the Nissan Rogue and Subaru Forester—were deemed “marginal.” And the Toyota RAV4 received a “poor” rating.

IIHS notes that a visual inspection can’t determine how well each front corner of a vehicle will perform. It hints it will begin generating passenger-side small overlap ratings next year and could make them a part of its safety awards in 2018.