Among all the 2010 model vehicles in the Small Pickup Truck class tested, only the Nissan Frontier, also sold as the Suzuki Equator earned the highest possible rating of “good” from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety or IIHS http://www.iihs.org. Other pickups tested were the Ford Ranger, which got an “acceptable” rating, as well as the Toyota Tacoma, the Chevy Colorado, a rebadged GMC Canyon and the Dodge Dakota, which all got “marginal”, the second lowest possible rating.

To get a “good” rating from the IIHS, a vehicle must have a roof that’s twice as strong as the current federal safety standard. This requirement is based on the Institute’s research that says passengers of a vehicle with a strong roof have the highest protection against rollover crashes, which is one of the most serious types of vehicular accidents.

According to statistics, rollover crashes are a lot more common in SUVs and pickup trucks than in cars, with almost half of all pickup truck occupant deaths in 2008 attributed to rollover crashes. Having a strong roof does not just reduce the risk of injury from contact with the roof during rollovers, it also prevents people from being ejected out of the vehicle through the windshield, windows and doors opened up after the roof gets deformed.

Even with a “good” rating in roof strength-to-weight ratio, the Nissan Frontier/Suzuki Equator still failed to be a “Top Safety Pick”, because it only earned an “acceptable” rating in protection against neck injury in rear crashes. To be a “Top Safety Pick”, a vehicle must earn a “good” rating in front, side, rear and rollover crashes and have Electronic Stability Control, which reduces the chances of fatal rollovers significantly.

"As a group, small pickups aren't performing as well as small cars or small SUVs in all of the Institute's safety tests. None of the ones we tested is a top-notch performer across the board. In fact, no small pickup earns our Top Safety Pick award," said IIHS Senior Vice President David Zuby.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA made a ruling raising the federal roof strength requirement in April of 2009. According to this new ruling, vehicles with a weight rating of 6,000 to 10,000 pounds should be able to withstand a force corresponding 1.5 times of their unloaded weight. The former ruling only required vehicles with a weight rating of up to 6,000 pounds to have a strength-to-weight ratio of 1.5 to 3. Also, the vehicles’ roofs are required to maintain a certain headroom measurement during testing and both sides of a roof will be tested sequentially and each side will be required to meet the said standard. This will be phased-in starting September 2012 and all vehicles will be required to comply with it by September 2016.

Furthermore, the IIHS also conducted side impact crash tests and the Frontier/Equator, as well as the Ranger and the Tacoma all had “good” ratings. The Chevrolet Colorado rated “poor” because of the lack of additional airbags to protect the driver’s chest and pelvis, as well as its poor structure. IIHS also reported that the dummy’s head almost moved around the standard curtain side airbag upon impact during testing. The Dakota had a different problem altogether. Its optional curtain side airbags failed to deploy upon impact.

In addition, the 2010 Dakota does not have standard side airbags unlike all the vehicles in its class when an agreement among 15 manufacturers was made way back in 2003 to make safety improvements that would reduce the risk for people in front and side crashes involving larger and heavier SUVs and pickup trucks. While the agreement was made specifying performance criteria instead of features, side airbags is an important feature to make this happen.

"Chrysler is the only manufacturer we know of that isn't living up to the spirit of the 2003 agreement," said Zuby.

Chrysler engineers identified a problem with the computer program algorithm which determines when the airbags should be fired and are currently working on a fix. The IIHS will be conducting another test on the Dakota and will publish the results soon after.

Read the full IIHS report here.

Up until 2013, there is still no legitimate standard to compare the trailer tow ratings advertised by various truck manufacturers. Because of this, a manufacturer can perform tests in conditions that would help them achieve the highest possible rating. But through the efforts of the Society of Automated Engineers (SAE), this will now change.

The tow vehicle trailer rating committee of the SAE, in cooperation with both local and international auto manufacturers, presented the SAE's Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice J2807 to determine the maximum permissible gross combination weight (GCWR) of the tow vehicle and the trailer, as well as the maximum permissible trailer weight rating (TWR). This new standard was approved in April of 2008 and will be mandatory for the tow ratings of all tow vehicles starting 2013.

The Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice J2807 stipulates all the conditions that have to be met before a manufacturer can claim the maximum tow rating for a particular vehicle. The conditions that need to be met include acceleration performance requirements, grade launch requirements, highway gradeability, handling requirements and braking requirements.

Find out more about it at the Automobile Mag website.