The Chevy Trailblazer has received the coveted Top Safety Pick+ distinction from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
While General Motors will be happy to see the Chevy Trailblazer has been named as an IIHS Top Safety Pick+for the 2022 model year, it likely won’t be surprised. That’s because the 2021 model year Chevy Trailblazer was also a Top Safety Pick+ and no major changes were made to the vehicle’s structure, exterior lighting or active safety technologies for the 2022 model year.
The 2022 Chevy Trailblazer received a best-possible overall safety rating of ‘Good’ from the IIHS, driven by ‘Good’ ratings across a multitude of crashworthiness evaluations including passenger and driver’s side small overlap front crash tests, moderate overlap front, roof strength and head restraints/seats. The only major area in which the Trailblazer did not receive the best-possible rating was with regard to the standard halogen projector headlamps, which showed room for improvement with regard to illumination/coverage and only achieved a rating of ‘Average’. The IIHS also docked the subcompact crossover points for the ease of use of the child seat LATCH system, giving this design a rating of ‘Average’.
Rival small crossovers that also received a Top Safety Pick+ award for the 2022 model year include the Ford Bronco Sport, Hyundai Tuscon, Mitsubishi Outlander, Mazda CX-5 and Mazda CX-30. Hyundai Motor Group received the most Top Safety Pick+ awards between its Hyundai and Kia brands at eleven, followed by Volvo with ten and VW Group with eight.
Production of the 2023 Chevy Trailblazer will begin on April 24th, as GM Authority reported earlier this month. Models destined for North America are produced at the GM Bupyeong plant in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, South Korea, while Chinese market models are built at the GM China Dong Yue plant in Yantai, Shandong, China.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevy Trailblazer news, Chevy news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
[nggallery id=1055]
Plus, a nationwide lease on extended-length full-size SUV.
With more than 2 million units sold in the U.S. since 1999.
Pulled down by the Lyriq's very poor performance.
Some 51 million airbags inflators are dodging a recall for now.
Because of a mounting bolt that's too long.
View Comments
That's great news, but as someone looking at a CUV, I worry about being on the receiving end of an EV collision. Their heavier weight can result in deadlier accidents.
It doesn't seem like many understand what I'm talking about. The IIHS is changing their side impact test by 2023 to mimic mid-size SUV collisions. In an experiment run last year, the IIHS has found that many CUVs will lose their Top Safety Pick+ awards if the manufacturers don't modify the structure.
To put things in perspective, the old IIHS side impact test vehicle weighs 3,300 pounds. The new one is 4,180 pounds. That, combined with a slight increase in speed, has caused numerous vehicles to buckle and receive lower ratings. Most EVs are heavier than 4,180 pounds. The Lyriq will weigh 5,610 pounds. The F-150 EV clocks in at 6,600 pounds. The Hummer EV is well over 9,000 pounds. If the structures of most CUVs buckle upon impact with a 4,180 pound vehicle T-boning them at 37mph, how will they fare against a heavy EV plowing into them at 50mph?
I'm not saying don't buy a CUV, but this is something to keep in mind.
IIHS is an insurance trade group. They don't foot the bill for new cars, nor do they care about your gas bill, or care about privacy or civil liberties. (The IIHS successfully lobbied for mandatory in-car drunk driver detection, mandatory as of 2026)
The European strategy is specifically to stop increasing high-speed crash tests, which cause carmakers to add structure that adds weight and reduces fuel economy and even increases other types of crash injuries (e.g. you have to make cars with flat, tall fronts which increases pedestrian injuries). For those reasons, they explicitly rejected IIHS small overlap.
Instead, they are pushing driver assist and collision avoidance systems. To that extent, both the US and EU are requiring new cars to have collision avoidance starting later this year. The EU has mandated heavy trucks have collision avoidance from 2015.
While neither autonomous braking nor added structure is 100%, there are clear advantages to avoiding a crash in the first place.
Small overlap crashes accounted for a lot of fatalities, which is why the test was performed. To their credit, many auto makers have responded well to reducing these fatalities. This effort began long ago when automated systems were neither economical or technologically feasible.
I applaud those systems but accidents still happen, which is why we have airbags and seatbelts and other systems to protect us during a crash. Even then, everyone knows a Chevy Spark will get mauled by a Hummer if a collision occurs, but not everyone knows that an ICE CUV will get mauled by an EV because of the weight disparity. That's what I'm trying to point out.
Recently a Tesla Model S t-boned a Honda Civic at highway speeds. The driver stupidly let Autopilot drive through an intersection (Autopilot doesn't recognize traffic lights). The Model S occupants experienced mild injuries, but the Honda Civic was totaled and both of its occupants died. Tragically, this will become more common since EVs are very heavy. The greater the difference in weight upon impact = the greater the fatalities in the lighter vehicle. I know we'll lose MPG with added weight if we increase the structural rigidity of ICE vehicles, but I don't want to be a pancake because some EV driver is joy riding. It's a balancing act that needs to be addressed.
Buy a heavier vehicle if so concerned about accidents. Pretty simple solution?
That's why I'm telling people about the risks. So they can make their own decision.