Birmingham Injury Blog

Yahoo News has posted an article about a study conducted by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS). The study tested

six midsized sedans and found none of their bumpers held up well in the kinds of low-speed impacts bumpers are supposed to sustain.

The Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Mazda 6, and Nissan Maxima all received ratings less than 'good' on the scale of good, marginal, acceptable and poor. The bumpers on the Mazda 6 was the only one out of the bunch to be rated 'acceptable.'
The Hyundai Sonata and Honda Accord rated 'marginal' and the remaining three cars were rated 'poor.'

In the tests, the cars’ bumpers are rammed straight into a solid barrier at 6 mph in the front and rear. One front and one rear corner are also subjected to 3 mph impacts. Current federal standards call for 2.5 mph for the front and rear barrier portion of their tests, and 1.5 mph for the corner impacts. Repair estimates for the four impacts are totaled and averaged according to how prevalent each type of accident is in the real world. The evaluation includes a weighting that reflects real-world accident patterns. Weighted average repairs of less than $500 merit a Good rating, under $1,000 is Acceptable, and less than $1,500 is marginal. Any estimate over $1,500 is considered Poor.

Bumper tests are mainly done because of insurance rates, not necessarily for crash safety research. Many fender-benders only result in a slight amount of damage that could have been prevented if a better bumper were on the car to begin with.