Four large pickup trucks offer robust safety features in side collisions, but their performance falls short when it comes to safeguarding passengers seated in the rear.

In the recent evaluation conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Ram 1500 crew cab, Ford F-150 crew cab, and Toyota Tundra crew cab, all 2023 models, received good ratings in the updated side crash test. Meanwhile, the 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 crew cab received an acceptable rating.

However, when it comes to the updated moderate overlap front crash test, which now places more emphasis on back seat safety, only the Tundra managed to secure a marginal rating. The F-150, Ram 1500, and Silverado were rated poorly.

IIHS President David Harkey pointed out, “Like most other vehicle classes, large pickups don’t perform as well in the new moderate overlap evaluation as they do in the updated side test, which is now a requirement for our TOP SAFETY PICK awards.”

The IIHS introduced the updated moderate overlap front test last year after research indicated that newer vehicles pose a higher risk of fatal injury to belted occupants in the second row than those in the front. This isn’t because the second row has become less safe; rather, advancements in front seat safety, including improved airbags and advanced seat belts, have made the front seat safer. However, these enhancements do not typically extend to the back seat. Nevertheless, it’s important to note that the back seat remains the safest place for children, provided they are properly secured in child safety seats.

In the updated test, a second dummy is positioned in the second row behind the driver, with the driver dummy representing an average adult man and the rear dummy the size of a small woman or a 12-year-old child. New metrics were developed by IIHS researchers to focus on the most common injuries seen in back seat passengers.

To earn a good rating, a vehicle must not pose excessive risks to the head, neck, chest, or thigh of the second-row dummy during the crash. The dummy should also stay in the correct position without “submarining” or sliding forward beneath the lap belt, which could lead to abdominal injuries. Moreover, the head should remain a safe distance from the front seatback and the rest of the vehicle interior, and the shoulder belt should remain securely on the shoulder, where it is most effective. A pressure sensor on the rear dummy’s torso is used to assess the shoulder belt’s position during the crash.

As in the original test, the structure of the occupant compartment must maintain adequate survival space for the driver, and measurements taken from the driver dummy should not indicate an excessive risk of injuries.

While all four pickups provided good protection in the front seat, the restraint systems in the rear were deemed inadequate. Harkey noted that submarining was an issue for all four pickups, with high belt forces in all but the Tundra.

Measurements taken from the rear dummy indicated that chest injuries and head or neck injuries would likely occur in the F-150 and Ram 1500. The risk of these injuries was somewhat lower but still excessive in the Silverado. As for the Tundra, the risk of chest injuries was also too high due to poor belt positioning, although the risk of head or neck injuries was only slightly elevated.

The updated side test was introduced to address higher-speed crashes that still result in fatalities, even in vehicles that performed well in the original evaluation. Similar to its predecessor, the updated test utilizes two dummies – a driver and a rear passenger – but it incorporates a heavier barrier traveling at a higher speed to simulate the striking vehicle. The updated test has now become a criterion for the TOP SAFETY PICK awards in 2023.

In this test, the F-150, Ram 1500, and Tundra, all of which received good ratings, provided solid protection in both front and back. However, the occupant compartment of the F-150 was slightly compromised by the impact. Additionally, there was an elevated risk of chest injury to the rear passenger in the Silverado, which received an acceptable rating.

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