Cars With The Worst Car Testing

Each year, the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) put hundreds of new cars, trucks, and SUVs through systematic testing to help show how the exact same accident in one vehicle might be different in another. And that difference could be one between life and death. The IIHS states that if behind the wheel of a Good rated car, you're 70 percent less likely to die than if you had been in a Poor rated car, at least where the driver-side collisions are concerned.

2007 Hyundai Accent

The third generation Hyundai Accent or Kia Rio, which shares the platform, was an affordable compact available in both sedan and hatchback body styles. During IIHS side-impact testing, the Accent received poor rating despite having front and rear curtain airbags and front-torso airbags. In the case of a side impact, it would be safer to actually be sitting in the back seat. The Accent’s rear passenger space received a good rating, but things didn't go so well for the dummy behind the wheel. Driver torso, leg and pelvis were the most susceptible to severe injury from this test, likely due to how far the door structures around it collapsed into the car. These ratings remained the same until the 2012 Accent arrived, but the new car only managed an average rating during the same test and returned a poor rating for its small overlap front test.

2013 Honda Fit

If you were to fold the rear seats down in the 2013 Honda Fit, and the flat load floor gives 57 cubic feet of cargo space, 15 cubic feet more than the Ford Explorer of similar model year. It earned a Top Safety Pick award from IIHS throughout 2007 and 2014, but with one major fault- its poor rating for the driver side small overlap crash test. Excessive dummy movement caused by the driver’s seatbelt allowed the dummy’s head to slide across and eventually off the airbag. An airbag with better coverage would’ve kept the dummy’s head in place, and could’ve prevented it from striking the A-pillar, steering wheel, or dashboard. The Fit that followed received better safety ratings in IIHS crash tests. The problem of sliding between two airbags was solved, but excessive forward movement remained, causing the dummy’s head to move so far forward it would make contact with the steering wheel through the airbag.

2014 Mazda CX-9

A poor rating was given to the first generation CX-9 during driver-side small overlap crash testing. During the test, the dummy barely made contact with the airbag, and ended up hitting the window frame as the steering column and its airbag continued to move up and away from the dummy as the collision occurred. The CX-9’s side airbag never deployed, and the dummy’s legs looked pinched between the seat and the lower dashboard after the crash. The same CX-9 scored better during the moderate overlap front and side crash tests, getting good ratings in both. Today every vehicle in Mazda’s lineup- apart from the MX-5 Miata, which hasn’t been tested- has earned a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the IIHS.

2018 Ford Escape

In 2013 Ford replaced its long in the tooth Mazda-based Escape with a new and improved generation that used its own architecture for Escape and Focus.Annual Escape sales rose to over 300,000. The IIHS added front small overlap crash tests to its requirements that same year. The Escape rated Poor for both driver- and passenger-side tests, but maintained a Good rating throughout the rest. In 2017 Ford partly remedied this on refreshed Escapes by reinforcing the front structure to improve its Poor overlap crash test, according to the IIHS. This only solved half of the problem. Although the Ford Escape would score higher, this time an Acceptable rating, the necessary improvements were only for the driver's side. The passenger side didn't receive additional structural support, and would still get a Poor rating. The dummy in the front-passenger seat rolled off the side of the front airbag, and the side curtain airbag never deployed. The lower dashboard area of the Escape collapsed far enough to make contact with the occupants' knees. Not the case for new Ford Escape models, which were deemed an IIHS Top Safety Pick, and given a five-star safety rating from the NHTSA..