Small Pickups Falter
In Side-Impact Crashes

Pickup-truck drivers thinking about switching to a smaller model to save on fuel might want to reconsider. Recent tests indicate small pickups are less crash-worthy than larger trucks, cars and sport-utility vehicles.

In side-impact crash tests carried out on five small pickups by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, only one model -- the Toyota Tacoma -- received the group's highest occupant-protection rating of "good."

The Dodge Dakota, Nissan Frontier and Ford Ranger received "marginal" ratings, and the group said the Chevrolet Colorado's side-impact performance was "poor."

Most cars and light trucks now perform well in frontal crash tests, so safety experts have increasingly focused on how vehicles fare in side collisions. In the recent tests, vehicles were struck from the side by a barrier meant to simulate an SUV or another pickup.

Side-impact crashes are the most common type of fatal crash after frontal impacts. Side impacts killed about 8,800 people in 2006. Front crashes killed just over 15,000 in the same period, according to the Insurance Institute, a research group funded by the insurance industry.

Sales of small pickups, which have traditionally attracted younger drivers seeking inexpensive transportation, declined about 18% in the first half of the year. Large-pickup sales declined 24% through the end of June.

Small pickups have the highest driver death rate of any automobile segment. In 2006, there were 116 driver deaths in small pickups per million vehicles registered, compared with 106 driver deaths in minicars and 42 for small sport-utility vehicles, the insurance group said.

One reason for the high death rates in small pickups is that they are more likely to be involved in single-vehicle crashes, which accounted for 51% of passenger-vehicle occupant deaths in 2006. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also said occupants of both small and large pickups are less likely to buckle their seat belts than passengers in other vehicles.

Pickups have historically lagged behind in adopting the latest safety technology. While electronic stability control can help drivers avoid collisions, it isn't available on many pickups.

The worst performer of the group was the Colorado, made by General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet division. Among the vehicle's shortcomings were that its structure allowed more intrusion into the passenger compartment during collisions than other pickups.

GM said its Colorado and Canyon trucks "meet or exceed all federal safety standards." The company also said the trucks will come with stability control as standard equipment for the 2009 model year.

Write to Jonathan Welsh at jonathan.welsh@wsj.com

   

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