Only Four Compact SUVs Earn Good Ratings in New Whiplash Test

Just four out of the 18 compact crossovers tested in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) new whiplash test managed to earn the organization's highest safety rating. That’s important data because neck injuries from being rear-end collisions are the most commonly reported injuries in American automotive insurance claims.

The four compact crossovers that earned a “good” rating, the IIHS’s highest score, were the Audi Q3, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Subaru Forester, and the Toyota RAV4 (all were MY2025 vehicles). In earlier versions of the test, all 18 of the tested vehicles earned good ratings.

The IIHS decided it was time to update its whiplash test because of the continued prevalence of neck injuries, despite every vehicle acing its crash testing. When it looked at the data, it found that some vehicles were performing better than others and decided to try and zero in on why.

It found that some criteria used in earlier testing, such as how long it takes for the dummy’s head to reach the headrest, were still important predictors of injury prevention. However it also found that some factors it wasn’t testing for could help predict injury. For example, when a vehicle is rear-ended, the occupant’s pelvis should sink into the seat. If it doesn’t it can accelerate faster than the head, causing strain on the neck.

“We don’t yet fully understand the mechanisms that cause whiplash injuries,” said Marcy Edwards, the IIHS senior research engineer who developed the new evaluation. “But our research makes us confident that reducing these types of movements and stresses should cut down on whiplash injuries in the real world.”

With that knowledge, the organization devised a new test that better measures seats and is, apparently, tougher to do well in. As an added benefit, it’s less destructive because a vehicle’s seat can simply be removed and installed onto the IIHS test rig, meaning that evaluators don’t need to sacrifice a whole vehicle to find out how well an occupant would be protected from injury.

The four vehicles that earned good scores effectively supported the head and spine, managed the interaction of the head with the head restraint, and their seats protected the occupant’s body.

On the other hand, the three vehicles that earned a “poor” rating, the IIHS’s lowest score, allowed their dummies’ heads to move a lot relative to the spine, stretching the upper vertebrae. The worst-performing vehicles in this updated test were the Hyundai Tucson, the Mazda CX-50, and the Ford Bronco Sport, the last of which the IIHS singled out as providing particularly poor support for the head and spine.

A full list of vehicles tested in the IIHS’s whiplash prevention evaluation can be found below: