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Small sport-utility vehicles performed poorly overall in the first side-impact crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Only two received the highest rating, and most were rated “poor.”
Some automakers indicated the results, released Tuesday, will lead to changes in vehicle design. General Motors Corp. said it already has added the Insurance Institute’s crash test to the tests it regularly performs.
The Insurance Institute tests are among the first to measure what happens when dummies the size of small women are hit in side-impact crashes.
The results were based on vehicle performance as well as the extent of injuries caused to identical dummies in the driver’s seat and left rear seat in a 31 m.p.h. crash.
