The U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has adopted a new testing protocol and retested multiple vehicles according to it, including the Tesla Cybertruck. It won the highest score for passenger protection, but fell short of the Top Safety Pick.
The test crew only conducted a single head-on collision test with a 40% overlap at 40 miles per hour (64.3 km/h). It suggested that the passengers in all seat rows were unlikely to receive head, body or leg injury of any kind. Despite that, the crew decided against further testing in lateral collisions and other scenarios for the time being.
The reasoning was that the Cybertruck was not eligible for the Top Safety Pick in any case. It scored “poor” in headlight performance and seat belt warning, to name just a few issues. It fared fell enough in pedestrian collision avoidance, both in daytime and at night. All in all, the IIHS concluded that the electric truck was relatively safe, but not worthy of including it in America’s list of safest vehicles.
According to the Institute, Cybertruck tests may continue at a later date.
