Nearly every vehicle the Institute tests now earns the top rating of good for frontal crash protection. This wasn’t the case for the Hummer H3, which earns an acceptable rating. The H3 is 1 of only 2 midsize SUV designs the Institute has recently tested that doesn’t earn a good rating in the frontal test (the other is the Chevrolet TrailBlazer).
In the Institute’s test, high forces were recorded on the dummy’s lower right leg, indicating the likelihood of injury. Still, forces on the dummy’s head and chest were low, and the vehicle’s structure held up well.
“Acceptable isn’t a bad rating,” Nolan explains. “It’s just not the best protection that’s available. Considering the Hummer’s acceptable side rating and poor rating in the rear test, we can see that this SUV hasn’t been designed with the state-of-the-art crash protection of many of its competitors.”
IHS news release
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