Small Pickups Do Poorly in Tests
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite the rugged image of pickup trucks, none of the five
small pickups tested by an insurance institute received a good rating on
safety.
The Dodge Dakota and Nissan Frontier rated ``poor'' in 40 mph crash tests by
the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. The Chevrolet S-10 received a
``mediocre'' rating, the institute said Tuesday.
The best rating for the five trucks - ``acceptable'' - was given to the Toyota
Tacoma and the Ford Ranger.
``We're always disappointed when no vehicle in a class earns a good
evaluation,'' said Brian O'Neill, the institute's president. ``There aren't
any pickups with good crashworthiness performance, and three of the five we
tested are marginal or poor overall.''
However, Chrysler and General Motors said the tests were not an accurate
reflection of the safety of their pickups.
The institute's evaluations are based primarily on a crash test in which half
of the front of the vehicle strikes a barrier head-on at 40 mph.
O'Neill said the crash test results called into question the effectiveness of
the energy-absorbing front-end of the pickups, the so-called crumple zone.
The crashes pushed the front part of the vehicle into the passenger
compartments of the vehicles. In the case of the Dakota and Frontier, the
front of the vehicle was pushed back too much into the footwell, where the
passengers' legs can be injured, the institute said.
``Plus the floor buckled extensively under the Dakota's driver seat,'' the
institute said.
In the Chevrolet S-10 crash, the instrument panel thrust back enough into the
passenger compartment to ``contribute to the possibility of leg and knee
injury.''
Chrysler spokeswoman Jodi Armstrong said the crash test results for the Dakota
were not consistent with Chrysler's test experience with the vehicle.
``We don't agree with the rating,'' she said.
General Motors spokesman Kyle Johnson said that when the front of the vehicle
pushes into the passenger compartment, that is ``not necessarily related to
injuries.'' He said the Chevy S-10 test results showed that on all injury
measures, particularly those that were life-threatening, the risk of serious
injury was low.
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