The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 10 of them tested the most popular small crossovers on the market and found that only one of them received a “good” rating Avoiding collisions between vehicles. That’s, um, less than ideal – especially for people who ride motorcycles and those of us who generally don’t want to fall behind in the first place.
The IIHS evaluated The Subaru Forester, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Ford Escape, Hyundai Tucson, Jeep compass, Chevy Equinox, Mazda CX-5, Mitsubishi Outlander And Volkswagen Taos in its updated vehicle-to-vehicle front Assessment of accident prevention.
I’ll save the anticipation for you. The ranger was the only one who received the grade “good”. The CR-V And RAV4 were rated “acceptable”. The escape, Tucson And compass received a rating of “marginal”. Unfortunately for their drivers and everyone else on the road equinox, CX-5, Outlander And Taos All received a grade of “poor”. It looks tough.
For this latest round of testing, the IIHS has upped the ante. Test speeds increased from 12 and 25 mph to 31, 37 and 43 mph. That’s a significant difference, especially considering that all of these cars achieved top marks in the old test.
The new test showed today automatic emergency braking systems are less effective at preventing accidents motorcycles and medium- or heavy-duty trucks are better suited to preventing accidents with other similarly sized passenger vehicles.
Each model received points by warning the driver of a significant speed reduction at least 2.1 seconds before the expected time of impact automatic brakingand braking effectiveness counted for further points.
“Obviously, accidents that occur at higher speeds are more dangerous,” David Kidd, a senior research scientist at the IIHS who led the development of the new assessment, said in a statement. “Fatal underride accidents often occur when the vehicle struck is a large truck, and motorcyclists are often killed.” hit by a carbecause your bike offers no protection from the impact.”
The ranger was the only vehicle rated “good” because it was able to avoid a collision with a car at any test speed. It was also avoided hitting that motorcycle at 31 and 37 mph and slowed an average of 30 mph before hitting the motorcycle in the 43 mph test.
On the other side of the coin is the equinox, CX-5, Outlander And Taos received poor reviews because they never identified the motorcycle and did not slow down sufficiently with their AEB systems. Actually it is equinox barely slowed down.
So what have we learned from all of this? Well, if you’re tailgated on a motorcycle, you best hope the car behind you is one Subaru Forester.