In Europe, Euro NCAP is the major authority when it comes to crash tests, and in its five-star rating system, almost all modern cars get full credit for their safety.
Based on these figures, it is easy to assume that all modern cars are about equally safe in a crash, but an American test of mid-range SUVs now shows that this is not the case.
Instead, it turns out that several popular models, for example from Lexus and Audi, have significant weaknesses in this area.
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The back seat now less secure
More specifically, it concerns the safety of rear-seat passengers in a crash with moderate overlap – a scenario that can, for example, occur in a head-on collision on a country road.
It shows a new test carried out by American IIHSor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The organization has updated its methods by placing a crash test dummy the size of a 12-year-old child or a smaller woman in the back seat.
In modern cars, the risk of life-threatening injuries for restrained passengers is now greater in the back seat than in the front seat.
This is not because the back seat has become less safe in absolute terms, but rather that the safety in the front seats is now so good that the back seat is now relatively less safe.
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U-boat problem
What turned out to be a big problem for several cars in the test is the risk of what in English is called “submarining” for the rear seat passengers.
This is the risk of the occupant’s hips not being properly held in place by the seat belt, causing the occupant to slide downward and forward under the belt in a crash.
In order for the car’s safety system to function properly, the occupant must move as little as possible in the event of a collision.
The Volvo XC60 was the only car in the test that got the full pot. Photo: IIHSVolvo XC60 is at the top
The IIHS tested eight mid-size SUVs, and of these, the Volvo XC60 was the only one that received the highest rating of “good” on all points for passengers in both the front and back seats.
This can be seen as remarkable as the current generation of XC60 is almost seven years old, and shows that Volvo is still top class in terms of safety.
The Mercedes-Benz GLE also scored well, but wasn’t quite as good as the Volvo at protecting rear seat occupants from head and neck injuries.
However, the models do not show any tendencies towards submarining.
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Audi and Lexus receive criticism
The BMW X3 did not show any such tendencies either, but it was criticized instead for how close the doll’s head came to the backrest of the seat in front and received the overall rating “adequate”, or approved.
It looks worse for the popular family SUVs Audi Q5 and Lexus RX, both of which are heavily criticized for how the seat belts in the back seat allow submarines.
They are therefore considered only average in terms of safety.
The worst grade in the test goes to the Cadillac XT6, which offers poor protection for rear seat passengers on several points and receives the overall grade “poor”, or lousy. However, the model is not sold in Europe.
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