Are Automakers Neglecting Passenger Safety?

Back in 2012, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety was busy scratching its head trying to find out why so many people were dying in frontal collisions even though its own tests had concluded that the wrecked vehiclesshould have been safe. It concluded that its testing methods didn't sufficiently prove that a vehicle could handle the stress of an accident, so it added the front small overlap test to its barrage of examinations.

Statistically, 20-25% of accident deaths involvedthese types of crashesthat the small overlap test assesses for. Many reputable automakers failed the first round of tests, but structural reinforcements were added and soon enough, there were plenty of vehicles that were rated as "good," the highest crash test rating that the IIHS gives, on the small front overlap crash test. The problem is, the test only evaluates the structural integrity of the driver's side since at minimum, a car is always transporting a driver. The idea was that automakers would start adding stopgap reinforcements on the driver's side to pass tests and gradually begin to add the same safety features onto the passenger's side of the car.