New Crash Test to Check Effectiveness of Passenger-side Airbags

A new test is likely to be added now as part of car safety rating tests in order to give more importance to the effectiveness of airbag on the passenger side of a vehicle. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), issues ratings for each car’s safety has said that it will be adding a new test to its normal routine of tests. This new test will involve simulation of a vehicle hitting a pole or tree on its passenger side. This will cause the airbag on the passenger side of the car to deploy. The test will serve to determine how well the airbag on the passenger airbag works when it is compared to the one on the driver’s side of the vehicle.

When the IIHS performed this test on 13 2017 and 2018 model year mid-sized cars, 10 of them passed the test with a good rating while the performance of one model was rated as acceptable.

Two models, the Volkswagen Passat and Chevrolet Malibu, received marginal ratings. According to
Becky Mueller, senior research engineer at The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the restraint system in these models did not effectively protect the dummy’s head from coming into contact with the dashboard.

From now onwards, new models will have to pass this test in order to receive IIHS’s top safety rating.
Many consumers consider the safety offered by a model to be one of their criteria when it comes to car purchase decision.