The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has started a new set of front overlap tests, making crash tests for car makers even harder. When tests are updated, a few cars usually stand out. This time, though, almost every midsize sedan failed. But the brand-new Honda Accord is different. All of the cars failed the new rear passenger test, a problem that kept coming up. Everyone worked except for the Accord. Even though the Subaru Outback got several Good ratings, its overall ranking was dropped to Acceptable because the rear passenger restraints got a Poor rating. The Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry did better than the other cars. They got Good, Acceptable, and Marginal grades for most of the things that affect back passengers but a Poor quality for the restraints. For the passenger’s head, neck, and chest in the back seat, the Kia K5, Hyundai Sonata, and Volkswagen Jetta all got Poor scores. The Jetta got an Acceptable grade for rear restraints, while the K5 and Sonata got a Poor score. David Harkey, the president of the IIHS, said that submarining was seen in most of the tested middle cars. When a passenger does this, the lap belt falls, “causing [the dummy] to ride up from the pelvis onto the abdomen and increasing the risk of internal injuries.” For more accurate testing, the backtest dummies are made to look like 12-year-old children. The IIHS says that contrary to what most people think, the chance of a severe injury in a new car is higher in the back than in the front. It says this is because front-passenger safety has succeeded more than back-passenger safety. Even though most of the intermediate cars tested did not do well, the Accord shows that passing is possible.
