Photo: Toyota
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has recently evaluated 10 pickups for effective seat belt reminders. Five couldn’t do better than poor, and the only truck to earn a good rating is the 2022 Toyota Tundra.
“National belt use observations show that people driving or riding in pickups are less likely to buckle up than occupants of other vehicles,” declared IIHS President David Harkey. “Effective reminders are especially important for these vehicles. Nearly a third of pickup occupant deaths in 2020 occurred in rollover crashes, in which seat belt use plays a key role.”
The IIHS launched a program for new ratings four months ago, designed to encourage automakers to improve their seat belt reminders. Unfortunately for prospective customers, most automakers haven’t improved these systems yet. Federal standards in the United States currently specify that seat belt reminders must include an audible signal that lasts 4 to 8 seconds.
A visual alert that lasts 60 seconds when the driver’s seat belt is unbuckled at ignition also needs to be mentioned. The institute’s research shows that more noticeable and persistent alerts could increase belt use among those who don’t buckle up by as much as 34 percent. The institute further estimates that improvements could prevent around 1,500 fatalities a year.
Turning our attention back to trucks, the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Nissan Frontier have both earned acceptable ratings. Acceptable doesn’t mean these pickups meet the organization’s seat belt reminder requirements. The Ram 1500 and Toyota Tacoma ranked in fourth and fifth places with marginal ratings. Lower down the spectrum, both General Motors and the Ford Motor Company had to make do with poor seat belt reminder ratings.
The culprits are the Chevrolet Colorado mid-size pickup, Silverado 1500 full-size pickup, Ford F-150, the unibody Maverick, and soon-to-be-refreshed Ranger. The latter is due for an extensive redesign in 2023 for the 2024 model year, centered around the T6.2 platform of the global Ranger.
The IIHS launched a program for new ratings four months ago, designed to encourage automakers to improve their seat belt reminders. Unfortunately for prospective customers, most automakers haven’t improved these systems yet. Federal standards in the United States currently specify that seat belt reminders must include an audible signal that lasts 4 to 8 seconds.
A visual alert that lasts 60 seconds when the driver’s seat belt is unbuckled at ignition also needs to be mentioned. The institute’s research shows that more noticeable and persistent alerts could increase belt use among those who don’t buckle up by as much as 34 percent. The institute further estimates that improvements could prevent around 1,500 fatalities a year.
Turning our attention back to trucks, the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Nissan Frontier have both earned acceptable ratings. Acceptable doesn’t mean these pickups meet the organization’s seat belt reminder requirements. The Ram 1500 and Toyota Tacoma ranked in fourth and fifth places with marginal ratings. Lower down the spectrum, both General Motors and the Ford Motor Company had to make do with poor seat belt reminder ratings.
The culprits are the Chevrolet Colorado mid-size pickup, Silverado 1500 full-size pickup, Ford F-150, the unibody Maverick, and soon-to-be-refreshed Ranger. The latter is due for an extensive redesign in 2023 for the 2024 model year, centered around the T6.2 platform of the global Ranger.
Five 2022 models, including the Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado, score the lowest rating of poor. Two rate marginal, two acceptable, and just one – the 2022 Toyota Tundra – earns a good rating. Full ratings: https://t.co/WMpCcRbU2C pic.twitter.com/hSPGWFq3d7
— IIHS (@IIHS_autosafety) July 19, 2022
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