The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) assessed the protection of second-row passengers, and not an ordinary “adult” dummy was seated behind the driver, but an imitation of a 12-year-old teenager. Four minivans took part in the tests: in addition to Kia and Toyota, specialists crashed Chrysler Pacifica and Honda Odyssey. The safety of the rear passengers was not up to the mark.
IIHS experts emphasized that minivans are purchased for families, but all four popular single-volume minivans were not able to adequately protect the rear passenger in a frontal impact. The Kia Carnival, Toyota Sienna and Chrysler Pacifica were rated Marginal, while the Honda Odyssey failed the test with a Poor rating.
The failure of the Honda Odyssey is due to the seat belt, which allowed the dummy’s head to get dangerously close to the back of the driver’s seat. The Japanese minivan also poorly protected the “teenager’s” head and neck. Kia Carnival also recorded dangerous loads on the mannequin’s neck. The side curtain airbags in the Chrysler Pacifica did not deploy. The Toyota Sienna was praised for its seat belt pretensioners, but the overall design and placement of the straps was poor: the dummy was pinned by the belt upon impact, which poses a high risk of abdominal injuries. All four minivans were criticized for placing excessive belt loads on the “teenager’s” chest.
The IIHS has no complaints about the safety of front occupants, but automakers have work to do to make minivans friendlier to passengers of all ages and body types. There is no doubt: next year Kia, Toyota, Honda and Chrysler will try to take revenge, because modern cars have accustomed customers to all crash tests passing with good and excellent ratings.
New minivans are not for us
