New Tests Show Pickup Truck Safety Concerns

New car shoppers looking for vehicles with the best safety ratings may want to steer clear of pickup trucks.

Only three of 11 pickups hit top scores in all crash tests recently performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. None of those cars—the Ford F-150, Ram 1500, and Nissan Titan—qualified as an IIHS top safety pick. That’s because each of the trucks had issues with their headlights.

"We commend Ford, Nissan and Ram for providing state-of-the-art crash protection for both drivers and front passengers of their large pickup models," IIHS chief research officer David Zuby said in a statement announcing the results. "As a group, however, the pickup class still has a lot of work to do."

The Honda Ridgeline was the only pickup truck in the group that qualified as an IIHS top safety pick. Although other trucks outperformed the Ridgeline on certain crash tests, the vehicle took home the top overall score.

Toyota’s full-size Tundra earned the worst overall rating among the trucks tested. The vehicle showed signs of likely significant injuries for passengers in a frontal crash and its roof had the worst performance score in the bunch.

The IIHS is a non-profit group created by auto insurance providers to perform research and testing aimed at reducing car crashes. Its tests are generally considered more difficult that those conducted by the federal government though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

IIHS testers ran the trucks through frontal crash tests and passenger side tests. The group noted that frontal crashes are more dangerous for pickup trucks than other cars because they’re typically heavier.

Legal Safeguards for Car Owners, Lessors in California

Crashworthiness and other safety measures are an integral part of comparing cars for many buyers and lessors. That’s even truer when you take into account that many vehicles come with design and manufacturing flaws that could make them more likely to end up in an accident.

For buyers and lessors in California, state law gives you some protections in the event you wind up with a defective vehicle. The California Lemon Law requires car manufacturers to perform certain repairs while the vehicle is under warranty. If those repair attempts don’t actually fix the problem—or if the manufacturer refuses to repair the car—the company is required to take the vehicle back and reimburse you for the purchase price and other related costs. The manufacturer can also offer to replace the car, but it’s up to the owner/lessor to decide which option to take.

The law also forces the manufacturer to pick up any of your legal costs related to enforcing these rights.

Our California Lemon Law Attorneys Can Help You

The California Lemon Law lawyers at the Bickel Law Firm have represented hundreds of clients in defective vehicle cases across the state. We take the stress of haggling with car manufacturers off of clients by working aggressively to resolve their cases. We do not charge upfront fees in most cases.

Our offices are conveniently located in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Call us at (888) 800-1983 or contact us online to speak with an attorney.