Many of the latest vehicle models aren’t up to snuff when it comes to protecting back-seat passengers, based on updated safety standards.

The nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which tests vehicles for safety on the road, updated criteria last year for its top safety awards to require the same level of protection in the back seat as in the front. To measure 2025 vehicles, it added a second crash-test dummy in the back seat behind the driver’s seat. 

The test findings showed that subcompact and large cars, minivans and pickups tend to fare poorly on back-seat protection. SUVS, by contrast, tend to do much better, IIHS said. 

“We’re once again challenging automakers to make their new models even safer than those they were building a year ago,” IIHS President David Harkey said. “Every vehicle that earns a 2025 award offers a high level of safety in both the front seat and the second row.”

The organization found 48 models pass muster for safety awards so far this year, far fewer than the 71 that did last year before it updated its testing, and SUVs take 28 of 36 Top Safety Pick+ awards, IIHS' highest level.

“The new emphasis on back seat protection appears to have winnowed minivans and pickups from the winners’ ranks,” Harkey said. “That’s unfortunate, considering that minivans are marketed as family haulers and extended cab and crew cab pickups are often used for that purpose.”

Many automakers responded to 2022 IIHS testing updates by shoring up vehicle safety, including stronger vehicle structures, improved air bags and more advanced seat belts, but they made many of the changes only in the front seats, said IIHS, which found that fatality risk is higher in the back seat. Nevertheless, it still maintains that the back seat is the safest spot for children younger than 13.

“There’s still progress to be made, but these results show that manufacturers are working hard to make their vehicles as safe for back seat passengers as they are for those up front,” Harkey said. 

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