New small cars earn good safety marks for frontal crashes, but not in side or rear crash testing

Most new small cars now earn good ratings in frontal crash tests but not when it comes to side and rear crashes, according to a report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
The IIHS recently completed front, side and rear tests of seven 2009 model small cars. They include the Chevrolet HHR, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra, Saturn Astra, Suzuki SX4 and Toyota Matrix.
Although all models earned the highest rating of ‘Good’ for frontal crashes, only the SX4 and Matrix earn ‘Good’ ratings for protection in side crashes.
The PT Cruiser was the only model to earn poor ratings both for side and rear protection, the IIHS found. In addition, it earned the lowest rating of ‘Poor’ for seat/head restraints.
In the side test, measures recorded on the driver dummy indicate that in a real-world crash of similar severity in a PT Cruiser, rib fractures and internal organ injuries would be likely, along with a possible pelvic fracture, an IIHS release says.
“The rear passenger dummy’s head contacted the C-pillar during the test because this car doesn’t have rear-seat side airbags,” it continues. “Measures recorded on the dummy indicate that serious neck injuries and a fractured pelvis would be possible in a crash of this severity.”