Is Your Pickup Truck a Safe Truck?

The IIHS uses what is called a small overlap crash test on all vehicles it tests. This test is designed to replicate what would happen if a vehicle were to collide with just the corner of another vehicle, a pole, a tree or anything else. With an increase in this type of crash, likely caused by those who are driving distracted by texting or eating while driving, the need to perform well in this test is important for the safety of drivers on the road. Being in a vehicular accident is not as hard to take when you can walk away from the crash rather than be escorted to the hospital or worse, which makes it important vehicles are built to be as safe as possible.

For the half-ton pickup class the testing showed us some glaring weaknesses among trucks you would normally consider as tough vehicles. You must remember their toughness doesn’t come from the vehicle being in several crashes and surviving, but in the work it can perform with the payload and towing capacities. With this in mind, the truck class was put to the test and the results might surprise you or cause you to choose a different model as the next truck you choose to drive.

In this test only one truck came out with a Top Safety Pick rating which were the Ford F-150 SuperCab and SuperCrew. This truck with either of the two cab styles received the highest possible rating in the small overlap test which gives Ford another edge of the competition and an important one as safety should be one of the most important factors on the road. Now that we know which truck was the only one to receive this high rating and be a truck we should continue to trust, let’s look at the rest of the class to see how the others performed.

Three trucks received a score of “acceptable” for this test. These three were the Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, both with the larger double cab, and the Toyota Tundra double cab. These trucks did a good job of maintaining the space for the driver and would be ones you could walk away from if you were in an accident that resembled the small overlap test. This gives us most of the trucks sold in the US, but does leave out one name that has a large number of trucks that are sold in the market each year.

Unfortunately in the Ram pickups the door hinge pillar, instrument pane and steering column were all pushed too close to the dummy and the head of the dummy rolled off the front airbag and came close to hitting the windshield pillar. The intrusion on the space of the dummy was extensive and caused the Ram trucks to be rated with a “poor score”. Even the foot area in a Ram pickup would leave a driver trapped and in need of assistance to free their legs, which could cause extensive injuries that would require months of rehabilitation for the injured parties.

When you consider the purchase of your next truck, think about the safety tests and this small overlap test the most. This is the type of crash you are most likely to experience and do you want to take a chance with a truck that might trap you inside with extensive injuries or do you want a truck that is built to protect you. I think you know what truck you will buy next time you need to purchase a new truck.