It’s very important to buy a new vehicle that offers adequate protection in all crash situations, and towards this end you need to be informed, since some vehicles are much better than others in the same class / price range.
This is evident in the fairly poor results noted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), when it tested a batch of seven midsize SUVs, vehicles usually deemed to be safer than their sedan or hatch counterparts.
Out of all the vehicles tested, the IIHS recommends you stay away from the Dodge Journey, as it was the worst faring of the lot. Watching the crash footage, the A-pillar crumples frighteningly easily, like they used to do three or more years ago when the small overlap test was introduced.
At the opposite end of the scale, we have the all-new Nissan Murano. It bounced off the obstacle and made the Journey look rather old and unsafe…
A surprise was presented by the Jeep Wrangler; it handled the small overlap crash surprisingly well, but was let down by poor lateral and whiplash protection.
The other four vehicles tested, the next safest after the Murano was the Ford Flex, then the Hyundai Santa Fe, Jeep Cherokee and Dodge Durango.
Check out the selection of videos after the virtual jump, to get the complete picture.
