Cars That Flunk Tougher Crash Safety Tests Have Plenty of Company

Results from the insurance industry’s tougher front-end crash tests released today show that, of 12 small cars tested, only two versions of Honda Motor’s Civic received a rating of “good.” That might make some consumers think that the trailing automakers—fully half the cars tested scored “marginal” or “poor”—will have hell to pay. After all, bad safety news about pharmaceuticals or foods can quickly spark consumer flight. But when it comes to disappointing grades on crash safety report cards issued by the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety, auto buyers seem a lot more forgiving.

Toyota Motor’s Camry, for example, in December flunked that same so-called small overlap test, receiving a poor rating, the safety group’s lowest rank. This new type of test simulates what happens when about 25 percent of the front corner of a car traveling 40 miles per hour strikes another vehicle or an object like a tree or a utility pole. That kind of accident—which often causes the car to lurch and twist enough to push occupants away from the protection of many air bags—is responsible for about one-fourth of all serious injuries or deaths of front-seat occupants while driving.