If the occupant compartment collapses in a crash, Lund says, the safety belts and airbag cannot do a good job of protecting the driver, so ''the risk of serious injury is high.''
This time around, Lund notes, ''the Uplander performed very well in this test. The occupant compartment stayed intact, so the driver's survival space was well maintained. The dummy's movement was controlled reasonably well. There were high head accelerations when its head hit the steering wheel through the airbag and then struck the pillar between the doors. Still, it's a huge improvement compared with GM's previous minivan design."
Five current minivan designs now earn good ratings in the Institute's frontal offset test: Honda Odyssey, Uplander, Toyota Sienna, Ford Freestar, and the Nissan Quest.
The ratings reflect performance in a 64-kmh frontal offset crash test into a deformable barrier, Lund explains. ''Based on the results, the IIHS evaluates the crashworthiness of passenger vehicles, assigning each vehicle a rating from Good overall to Poor.''
If a vehicle earns a ''Good'' rating, Lund claims, ''it means that in a real-world crash of similar severity a belted driver most likely would be able to walk away with only minor injuries.''
The IIHS's crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of frontal offset (i.e. 40 percent of the front of each vehicle) crash tests at 64.3 kmh, Lund says. ''Each vehicle's overall evaluation is based on three aspects of performance -- measurements of occupant compartment intrusion, injury measures from a Hybrid III dummy positioned in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.''
Other minivans didn't score as well in the IIHS's unique, non-real world crash tests.
The Kia Sedona, Mazda MPV, Dodge Grand Caravan, and Chrysler Town & Country only get ''Acceptable'' ratings, which are below ''Good'' but above "Marginal'' and ''Poor.''
photo:GM of Canada
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| 2005 Chevrolet Uplander (photo : General Motors) |
Five current minivan designs now earn good ratings in the Institute's frontal offset test: Honda Odyssey, Uplander, Toyota Sienna, Ford Freestar, and the Nissan Quest.
The ratings reflect performance in a 64-kmh frontal offset crash test into a deformable barrier, Lund explains. ''Based on the results, the IIHS evaluates the crashworthiness of passenger vehicles, assigning each vehicle a rating from Good overall to Poor.''
If a vehicle earns a ''Good'' rating, Lund claims, ''it means that in a real-world crash of similar severity a belted driver most likely would be able to walk away with only minor injuries.''
The IIHS's crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of frontal offset (i.e. 40 percent of the front of each vehicle) crash tests at 64.3 kmh, Lund says. ''Each vehicle's overall evaluation is based on three aspects of performance -- measurements of occupant compartment intrusion, injury measures from a Hybrid III dummy positioned in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.''
Other minivans didn't score as well in the IIHS's unique, non-real world crash tests.
The Kia Sedona, Mazda MPV, Dodge Grand Caravan, and Chrysler Town & Country only get ''Acceptable'' ratings, which are below ''Good'' but above "Marginal'' and ''Poor.''
photo:GM of Canada
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