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Accident Reconstruction News Article Rear crash tests rate minivans "poor" for whiplash DETROIT, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Most current minivan models provide inadequate protection against neck injuries in rear crashes, a U.S. insurance industry group said on Sunday. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave out mostly "poor" ratings to minivan makers as it released results of crash tests evaluating the vehicles' seat and head restraint designs. The tests simulated a collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 miles per hour. All seats in General Motors Corp.'s (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chevrolet Uplander, Buick Terazza, Pontiac Montana SV6 and Saturn Relay got "poor," the lowest ranking. Some seat designs in Toyota Motor Co.'s (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Sienna were also rated "poor," as were some in the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country from the Chrysler arm of DaimlerChrysler (DCX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (DCXGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) . Seats in Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Odyssey minivan received a "marginal" rating in rankings that descended from "good," "acceptable" and "marginal" to "poor." Ford Motor Co.'s (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) slow-selling Freestar minivan and its twin Mercury Monterey were the only ones to earn a "good" rating. Adrian Lund, the institute's chief operating officer,
said in a statement, "Moms often are behind the wheel, and women are
more vulnerable to whiplash injuries, so they especially need good seats
and head restraints." ### |
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