If at first you don't succeed, try again: NHTSA's repeated tests on poor-performing vehicles in the 1980s. These are the ones that didn't improve.
The date is May 21, 1985, and at the Calspan crash test center in New York, a 1985 Isuzu I-Mark is crashed into a barrier at 35 mph. The seat-belted dummies' heads smash into hard surfaces, hard enough to indicate a 59% risk of serious driver injury and 64% risk of serious passenger injury. The driver's HIC is 1,514, with 38 Chest G's; the passenger's HIC is 1,544, with 48 Chest G's. Both HICs are more than 1-1/2 times the "passing" threshold of 1,000. Also, all four doors are jammed.
The I-Mark gets a second chance. Now it's a 1986 model, same facility, February 18, 1986. Same 35 mph frontal crash. The driver's HIC soars to 2,179 (with 43 Chest G's), while the passenger's dips to 1,135 (with 44 Chest G's). Now the severe injury risks are 93% for the driver and 32% for the passenger. The rear doors are now operable, but the front doors are still jammed.
Is the third time the charm? Not with the I-Mark. A third test is conducted on May 6, 1987; both dummies do slightly better, but within the range of common test to test variation with a driver HIC of 1,809 with 53 Chest G's and a passenger HIC of 1,042 with 51 Chest G's, good for an 83% risk of severe driver injury and a 30% risk of severe passenger injury.
The Chevy Astro Van saw the same test four times in seven years; February 21, 1985; March 8, 1988; March 31, 1989, and January 2, 1992. (Each time, the model year and the test year were the same) The forces on the dummies in the '85 van were horrifying: the driver HIC was 2,202 with 70 Chest G's, and the passenger HIC was 1,597 with 61 Chest G's. That's a whopping 96% risk of severe driver injury, 72% risk of severe passenger injury. The '88 van showed some improvement, although its performance was still quite bad; a driver HIC of 1,603 with 72 Chest G's and a passenger HIC of 1,424 with 63 Chest G's means a severe injury risk of 78% for the driver and 62% for the passenger. Progress, although not nearly enough.
The '89 van actually regressed, with a driver HIC of 1,849 and passenger HIC of 1,838; both had 64 Chest G's, and both had a severe injury risk of 86-87%. The '92 van turned in the worst performance of all. The driver HIC was 2,065, with 61 Chest G's; the passenger HIC was 1,815 with 68 Chest G's. The driver's severe injury risk jumped to 92%, while the passenger's held steady at 86%. It wasn't until later years, after the Astro added a driver airbag in 1993 and received a full redesign for 1995, that it's safety improved. Quite dramatically, I might add, but that's a story for another post.
Chevy's full-size van did even worse. The 1987 model, tested two days before Christmas 1986, had a driver HIC of 1,387 with 67 Chest G's and a passenger HIC of 1,719 with 43 Chest G's. No one would call a severe injury risk of 63% for the driver and 75% for the passenger "safe". While the '87 crash test was a "failure", the '88's test on March 4, 1988 was "horrifying". The driver HIC jumped to 3,665, with 97 Chest G's, while the passenger HIC fell slightly to 1,452 with 56 Chest G's. The severe injury risk was 100% for the driver and 60% for the passenger; it's highly likely that a real-world driver would have been killed instantly. The I-Mark, Astro, and '87 full-size van had high forces with likely severe injury and varying chances of death, but there's no surviving the beating that the 1988 van's driver dummy took.
The Peugeot 505 had its second trip down the crash test hall on June 25, 1987, when a 1987 model was tested. Previously, the 1983 505 had been tested and done fine for the era, certainly a vast improvement over the deadly 504. This '87 505 was fitted with a new automatic seat belt system, and while it still outperformed the 504, that's not saying much at all. Driver HIC was 1,831, with 60 Chest G's; the passenger's HIC was 1,786, with 51 Chest G's. This meant that the risk of severe injury to the driver was 85%, the passenger 80%. The '88 505 was tested on January 28, 1988, and showed some improvement; driver HIC of 1,701 with 60 Chest G's and passenger HIC of 1,457 with 45 Chest G's meant the severe injury risk dropped to 78% for the driver and 57% for the passenger.
The 1989 505 came back with the worst performance for a 505 yet. Tested on June 1, 1989, it's driver HIC was 1,983 with 64 Chest G's, and the passenger HIC was 2,192 with 77 Chest G's for a severe injury risk of 91% for the driver and 96% for the passenger. All four doors were jammed on the '89; the '87 and '88 505's at least kept the rear doors operational.
See part 2 for the success stories: how the Hyundai Excel, Nissan Sentra, Ford Taurus, Ford Tempo, Volkswagen Fox, and Nissan Hardbody made great strides in a short period of time.
The I-Mark gets a second chance. Now it's a 1986 model, same facility, February 18, 1986. Same 35 mph frontal crash. The driver's HIC soars to 2,179 (with 43 Chest G's), while the passenger's dips to 1,135 (with 44 Chest G's). Now the severe injury risks are 93% for the driver and 32% for the passenger. The rear doors are now operable, but the front doors are still jammed.
Is the third time the charm? Not with the I-Mark. A third test is conducted on May 6, 1987; both dummies do slightly better, but within the range of common test to test variation with a driver HIC of 1,809 with 53 Chest G's and a passenger HIC of 1,042 with 51 Chest G's, good for an 83% risk of severe driver injury and a 30% risk of severe passenger injury.
The Chevy Astro Van saw the same test four times in seven years; February 21, 1985; March 8, 1988; March 31, 1989, and January 2, 1992. (Each time, the model year and the test year were the same) The forces on the dummies in the '85 van were horrifying: the driver HIC was 2,202 with 70 Chest G's, and the passenger HIC was 1,597 with 61 Chest G's. That's a whopping 96% risk of severe driver injury, 72% risk of severe passenger injury. The '88 van showed some improvement, although its performance was still quite bad; a driver HIC of 1,603 with 72 Chest G's and a passenger HIC of 1,424 with 63 Chest G's means a severe injury risk of 78% for the driver and 62% for the passenger. Progress, although not nearly enough.
The '89 van actually regressed, with a driver HIC of 1,849 and passenger HIC of 1,838; both had 64 Chest G's, and both had a severe injury risk of 86-87%. The '92 van turned in the worst performance of all. The driver HIC was 2,065, with 61 Chest G's; the passenger HIC was 1,815 with 68 Chest G's. The driver's severe injury risk jumped to 92%, while the passenger's held steady at 86%. It wasn't until later years, after the Astro added a driver airbag in 1993 and received a full redesign for 1995, that it's safety improved. Quite dramatically, I might add, but that's a story for another post.
Chevy's full-size van did even worse. The 1987 model, tested two days before Christmas 1986, had a driver HIC of 1,387 with 67 Chest G's and a passenger HIC of 1,719 with 43 Chest G's. No one would call a severe injury risk of 63% for the driver and 75% for the passenger "safe". While the '87 crash test was a "failure", the '88's test on March 4, 1988 was "horrifying". The driver HIC jumped to 3,665, with 97 Chest G's, while the passenger HIC fell slightly to 1,452 with 56 Chest G's. The severe injury risk was 100% for the driver and 60% for the passenger; it's highly likely that a real-world driver would have been killed instantly. The I-Mark, Astro, and '87 full-size van had high forces with likely severe injury and varying chances of death, but there's no surviving the beating that the 1988 van's driver dummy took.
The Peugeot 505 had its second trip down the crash test hall on June 25, 1987, when a 1987 model was tested. Previously, the 1983 505 had been tested and done fine for the era, certainly a vast improvement over the deadly 504. This '87 505 was fitted with a new automatic seat belt system, and while it still outperformed the 504, that's not saying much at all. Driver HIC was 1,831, with 60 Chest G's; the passenger's HIC was 1,786, with 51 Chest G's. This meant that the risk of severe injury to the driver was 85%, the passenger 80%. The '88 505 was tested on January 28, 1988, and showed some improvement; driver HIC of 1,701 with 60 Chest G's and passenger HIC of 1,457 with 45 Chest G's meant the severe injury risk dropped to 78% for the driver and 57% for the passenger.
The 1989 505 came back with the worst performance for a 505 yet. Tested on June 1, 1989, it's driver HIC was 1,983 with 64 Chest G's, and the passenger HIC was 2,192 with 77 Chest G's for a severe injury risk of 91% for the driver and 96% for the passenger. All four doors were jammed on the '89; the '87 and '88 505's at least kept the rear doors operational.
See part 2 for the success stories: how the Hyundai Excel, Nissan Sentra, Ford Taurus, Ford Tempo, Volkswagen Fox, and Nissan Hardbody made great strides in a short period of time.
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