Crash tests have long been a metric by which we judge how safe a vehicle is, and a car that doesn’t perform well in crash tests may experience lack of interest or support in the market. Increasingly, individuals are interested in safety data when making the final decision to purchase a car, especially when that car will be used to regularly transport children.

According to new crash test data for some SUVs, however, passengers sitting in the front seat may not be as lucky as the drivers of those same vehicles. In order to arrive at this result, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety duplicated crashes with seven smaller-size SUVs that received high marks for protecting the driver of the vehicle in an accident. These SUVs performed well in a test when the front driver’s side corner slammed into a barrier at 40 miles per hour. IIHS, however, was curious about how well these cars would hold up when the passenger’s side was tested. Only two of these same models performed well enough to score in the “good” category and one model was ranked as “poor” after the crash tests were complete.

What’s the bottom line on why these crash tests matter? In 2014, there were more than 1600 fatalities for passengers sitting in the front seat of cars, representing more than 13 percent of all in-the-vehicle fatalities for that year. Have you been injured in an accident while sitting in the front seat? If so, you are not alone. Despite modern technology like seat belts, airbags, and more, accidents can and do still happen. It’s in your best interests to speak with a San Diego personal injury attorney if and when you’re involved in an accident like this. Not all accidents will qualify for compensation, but those where another driver was negligent or reckless will.