The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has released crash test ratings for the current crop of 2019 pickup trucks and many of the vehicles didn’t do so well.
The 2019 Ford F-150, Nissan Titan and Ram 1500 are the only three trucks to earn a top-tier good rating in both the passenger- and driver-side small overlap front test. The Chevy Silverado scored a good rating on the driver side and a marginal rating on the passenger side with the same marks given to the GMC Sierra.
The Toyota Tundra did the worst of all 11 trucks tested, managing a marginal rating on the driver side and a poor rating on the passenger side.
The Toyota Tacoma and the Honda Ridgeline managed the best scores among midsize pickups, each managing an acceptable rating on the passenger side and good rating on the driver side. The Ridgeline is the only truck out of the 11 though to qualify for the IIHS Top Safety Pick designation thanks to good-rated headlights. The Tacoma falls short of the award because its headlights.
The Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon both scored marginal on the passenger side and good on the driver side. The Nissan Frontier was rated marginal on both sides.
The small overlap test replicates a crash where the front corner of a vehicle strikes an object like a tree or utility pole at 40 mph.
For a reference, the F-150 allowed less than 5 inches of intrusion at the rightmost section of the footwell, while the seat belts and airbags controlled the movement of the dummies so well that no injury was indicated.
In contrast, the Tundra allowed 15 inches of intrusion into the rightmost part of the toepan, while intrusion at the lower door hinge equalled a foot. The dummy’s head on the passenger side also collided with the A-pillar grab handle which intruded into the passenger’s space. Right lower leg injuries and right hip injuries were both recorded by the dummy.
“We commend Ford, Nissan and Ram for providing state-of-the-art crash protection for both drivers and front passengers of their large pickup models,” says David Zuby, IIHS chief research officer. “As a group, however, the pickup class still has a lot of work to do.”
You can watch each of the crash tests below and see for yourself how each truck fares.
Toyota Tundra
Nissan Frontier
Chevy Silverado
Chevy Colorado
Nissan Titan
Toyota Tacoma
Honda Ridgeline
