Up to date crash take a look at reveals again seats aren’t as protected as they need to be : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4500x3000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/png/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6b%2Fc6%2F4dc8b58f4df68b5def838a828803%2Fimage.png" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4500x3000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6b%2Fc6%2F4dc8b58f4df68b5def838a828803%2Fimage.png" class="img" alt="A crash-tested vehicle sits in the test hall, with airbags deployed and a crash test dummy's hand visible in the rear window, after a moderate overlap frontal crash test at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Ruckersville, Va., on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025." fetchpriority="high"/> A crash-tested automobile sits within the take a look at corridor, with airbags deployed and a crash take a look at dummy's hand seen within the rear window, after a average overlap frontal crash take a look at on the Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security in Ruckersville, Va., on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. Carlos Bernate for NPR cover caption

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Carlos Bernate for NPR For 3 many years, the Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security (IIHS) has been smashing autos with an adult-sized dummy sitting within the entrance seat, simulating a kind of head-on collision the place two autos are barely offset.

It is all the time been a difficult take a look at, above and past the minimal requirements that automobile corporations are legally required to satisfy. The IIHS conducts exams and independently awards security scores that are supposed to reward corporations for superior security, properly exceeding minimal requirements.

However a couple of years in the past, IIHS realized they wanted to make this take a look at even tougher.

The unique take a look at centered on that entrance seat. It is a frontal collision, in spite of everything; when the take a look at was first designed, the rear was clearly the safer place to be.

Then automakers made monumental progress in making head-on collisions extra survivable for entrance seat occupants. Crumple zones bought higher at absorbing power. Seat belts bought extra refined.

After a couple of many years of those enhancements, real-world damage knowledge confirmed that fatalities had, counterintuitively, turn into extra frequent within the again seat. And never just a bit extra frequent; the chance was 46% greater.

"What we noticed after we went again and appeared on the subject knowledge is that whereas we have made a lot of enhancements for the entrance seat, the rear seat hadn't saved tempo," says Jessica Jermakian, the senior vice chairman of car analysis for IIHS.

IIHS continues to advocate that youthful kids experience within the again seat, thanks largely to the distinctive dangers posed to these kids by frontal airbags. However for youngsters carrying seatbelts, the again seat is now riskier than the entrance. Similar for grownup back-seat passengers — whose numbers have elevated as ridesharing has caught on.

So IIHS added a small dummy within the again seat in 2022, and refined the take a look at in 2024 to make it much more stringent.

The take a look at could be surprisingly arduous to observe, even if you happen to've pushed to this facility in rural Virginia particularly to observe a automobile get crashed.

I stood on a metallic platform overlooking a concrete-and-steel crash barrier as a Subaru Crosstrek was ready to be yanked ahead at 40 miles per hour. An adult-size dummy was buckled into the entrance seat, and behind it sat a second dummy the scale of a 12-year-old.

After a countdown, the automobile slammed into the crash barrier with a violent bang, so arduous that the child-sized dummy's hand was flung out the rear window.

"Oh my God," I heard myself gasping out loud. "The tiny hand."

Apparent shortcomings, fast enhancements Nearly instantly after the take a look at was up to date, it started to disclose autos' shortcomings. Underneath the newest model of the take a look at, 20% fewer autos certified for IIHS' security awards than within the less-stringent model.

Contemplate what occurred to minivans, the quintessential household automobile. Underneath older variations of the take a look at, two minivans earned the "Prime Security Decide" award; in 2025, not a single one did. "That is actually as a result of lackluster efficiency within the up to date average overlap crash take a look at," Joe Younger, the IIHS media relations director, informed NPR through electronic mail.

The excellent news is that modifications are already underway. By the use of instance, Younger pointed to the Hyundai Sonata, which earned the bottom potential ranking on this take a look at in 2023. Because the outcomes made clear, that was completely as a result of backseat efficiency. The motive force was well-protected, however the dummy within the backseat confirmed possible accidents to the pinnacle or neck, chest and stomach.

Since then, Hyundai has added essential know-how to the Sonata's rear seat belts: pretensioners, which tighten seat belts within the first immediate of a crash, and power limiters, which add slightly slack moments later. When IIHS examined the 2025 mannequin, it scored the highest-possible ranking on the take a look at. Requested for remark, Hyundai's chief security officer, Cole Stutz, informed NPR through electronic mail that after IIHS introduced extra strict testing standards, "Hyundai stepped-up to the problem," implementing modifications together with the extra superior seatbelts and enhancements to the construction of the aspect of the automobile.

And that is only one instance — Younger says quite a few autos from different automakers have proven comparable fast enhancements for the reason that rear-seat dummy was added to the take a look at.

Jermakian says upgrading seat belts is a change automakers might make in a short time. However now corporations are beginning to introduce tougher redesigns, like alterations to the form of the rear seat itself.

To her, the truth that many autos at the moment are flunking this take a look at is, in some methods, a optimistic signal. At any time when all autos are getting nice scores on one of many group's exams, it signifies the take a look at will not be difficult sufficient to inspire additional security enhancements. That is "a chance for us to lift the bar," Jermakian says — exactly what the group is making an attempt to do now.