It appears that newer pickup trucks pose a greater danger to passengers than to drivers. After a round of crash tests, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that passengers of modern two-row pickups are more liable to suffer injuries or death than drivers. The tests involved 11 pickup models, some of which Pennsylvania residents may be familiar with.

Their ability to protect front passengers from harm was ranked from “good” to “poor.” Three were ranked “good”: the Ford F-150, Ram 1500 and Nissan Titan. Below that were two with an “acceptable” rating, the Honda Ridgeline and the Toyota Tacoma. Below that, and just above “poor,” were five vehicles with “marginal” performance. One was the Nissan Frontier, and the others were the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon and GMC Sierra 1500.

The Toyota Tundra showed the worst results, having a hard time retaining its structure during crash tests, and received a “poor” rating. The Tundra has not seen a major redesign since 2014, whereas some of the others tested were recently overhauled. IIHS researchers believe this may have contributed to the results.All but two of the pickups scored “good” for driver’s-side safety, the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Frontier scoring “marginal”.Automakers, then, may not consider passenger’s-side safety as on the same level as driver’s-side safety.

Passengers who have been harmed in this type of a motor vehicle accident might want to meet with a personal injury attorney to discuss their situation. In some cases, more than one party might be deemed financially responsible for their losses, including the manufacturer of the truck that was designed poorly as well as the motorist whose negligence was the cause of the collision.