The IIHS says its engineers haven’t seen this in years. This morning, the group released safety test results for several popular large 2023-2024 SUVs: the Chevrolet Tahoe, the Ford Expedition, and the Jeep Wagoneer. The Wagoneer passed many of the crash tests and earned an overall “Good” rating, qualifying it for a Top Safety Pick award. However, the IIHS was disappointed with the other two models. What’s more, of the three SUVs highlighted in today’s press release, the Expedition surprised engineers the most.

The Ford Expedition failed to provide safe survival space for the driver and front passenger in small overlap front-end crash testing. In the driver-side test, the whole steering column ended up semi-detached from the instrument panel. In both side tests, the A-pillars separated from the rocker panels. Footwell intrusion indicated a high risk of injury to the driver’s right leg. In the side impact test, which the Expedition technically passed, the dummy hit its head hard on the side curtain airbag.

None of the three SUV models were perfect

While the Tahoe showed sufficient survival space for the driver and front passenger, footwell intrusion indicated risk of leg injury. In the Wagoneers’s moderate overlap front crash test, the dummy’s head hit the steering wheel through the airbag. This disqualified it from the IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award. 

In all three large SUVs, risk of injury to rear passengers was high in moderate overlap testing. In the Tahoe, measurements taken from the rear passenger dummy indicated a high risk of head, neck, and chest injury.

The subpar performance in small overlap crash testing is something of a shock to the IIHS since over 90% of new models have passed these tests with flying colors since 2021.

“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, in the release. “The good news is that the top performer in this class proves that automakers can readily address these problems.”

Update 6/6/2024 2:05 PM – Ford spokesperson Maria Buczkowski has provided the following statements:

“Expedition is carefully designed to provide excellent protection for its own occupants and protection of occupants in other vehicles in multi-vehicle accidents, which were not replicated by the IIHS small overlap rigid barrier test. Designing SUVs in Expedition’s weight category to perform better in the small overlap rigid barrier test could potentially increase injury to occupants in lighter-weight vehicles involved in a crash.”

“IIHS recently changed their moderate front overlap test procedure for the second row, however, Expedition received a “Good” rating in the previous moderate overlap test. We are always working to continuously improve, and we consider third-party feedback in vehicle development.”

“The 2023 and 2024 Expedition meets or exceeds the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) regulatory requirements, and it is the only vehicle in the segment to achieve a five-star
overall vehicle score in NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP).”