Large SUVs Have a Ways to Go on Safety

Just one of three large top-selling 2024 SUVs sailed through a recent safety crash test.

The Jeep Wagoneer garnered the Top Safety Pick award of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, while the Chevrolet Tahoe and Ford Expedition struggled. Still, even the Wagoneer doesn’t have what the organization considers solid back-seat protection, and it therefore didn’t get IIHS’ highest rating.

One aspect of SUVs that affects their safety overall is obvious: their large size, which on the one hand provides more protection in collisions with smaller vehicles, IIHS pointed out. But that size means they’re more dangerous for other vehicles on the road and more force to manage when they hit stationary objects, it said.

All three SUVs IIHS tested were challenged by such collisions, though IIHS said the Wagoneer fared better.

For back-seat protection, the Wagoneer also had a better safety showing than the other two SUVs, but none got high marks, showing elevated risk of chest injury from high seat belt force, IIHS said.

“These discouraging results show that some popular vehicles still lag behind in meeting the most advanced safety standards,” said Raul Arbelaez, vice president of the institute’s Vehicle Research Center. “The good news is that the top performer in this class proves that automakers can readily address these problems.”

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