When crash tests collide.(Annual Auto Issue)(crash tests inadequate)(Industry Overview)

Sometimes a vehicle scores well in the government's annual New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and not so well in the frontal-offset-crash test conducted by the insurance industry. Those in the chart at right are among the 90 or so 2002 models for which both sets of data are available. All were awarded four or five stars for the driver and front passenger in the NCAP full-frontal-crash test, equating to a 20 percent or less chance of serious injury in a collision, NHTSA estimates. Yet their Poor ratings in tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) indicate that the driver would likely suffer serious injury.

"When we design a vehicle, we design it to do well in the real world. No single test can tell you everything," says a Ford spokesman referring to the F-150 pickup's Poor score in the IIHS offset-frontal-crash test. "We also have a question as to the weight at which the IIHS crushable barrier remains effective for trucks," the spokesman adds. Brian O'Neill, IIHS president, acknowledges that the offset test is tougher on heavier vehicles, which crush the barrier earlier than lighter ones, but says the test is just as tough on other trucks. "We're comparing the Ford F-150 with vehicles like the Toyota Tundrapickup, which weighs about the same as the F-150yet showed minimal intrusion," says O'Neill. However, while the Tundra received a Good in the IIHS offset-frontal-crash test (the Institute's highest rating), it got just three stars for the driver and passenger in NHTSA's full-frontal test, a mediocre performance.

The crash-protection rating in the Consumer Reports Safety Assessments, which start on page 15, places more weight on the IIHS's offset tests, which measure how much a vehicle's structure is likely to ...