File: A 2020 Jeep Renegade is on display at the 112th Annual Chicago Auto Show at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois on February 7, 2020. Most small SUVs flunked the latest frontal crash tests done by the insurance industry, but oddly enough, they're just as safe as they were before.so it places more emphasis on keeping back-seat passengers safe.
IIHS President David Harkey said the test is being changed because vehicle structures, air bags and seat belts have made the SUVs safer for front-seat passengers than those in the back. Now, the risk of fatal injury is 46% higher for rear-seat passengers than drivers in the front, Harkey said. While safety belts restrain back-seat passengers, they're susceptible to head and neck injuries, and in many of the SUVs, the belts are relatively low tech and simply tighten up in a crash.
File: The 2019 Honda HR-V Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash test car is seen during the press preview days of the 2019 New York International Auto Show at the Javits Center in New York on April 17, 2019. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty ImaThe institute used a crash dummy that represents a small woman or a 12-year-old child to test for injuries to rear-seat passengers, and Harkey says the dummy does a good job of showing risk to passengers of all sizes.