Kia decided to work a bit more on its 2024 Carnival crossover van after the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found it particularly dangerous for middle-row passengers in a side collision. One probably has to welcome the extra effort, but we just received another report from the IIHS saying the results are just as bad.
When it conducted the initial crash test of the 2023-model-year Carnival minivan, the IIHS pointed out the flimsy second-row seat mounts. A violent impact can detach the seats from their mounts and fling them further down the cabin, injuring both their occupants and those unfortunate enough to be in the way.
The Institute informed Kia about the issue, and the Korean automaker has improved the design of the minivan for the next model year by replacing the mounting rails with a more robust version. The company even went as far as to offer all affected owners free rail replacement via authorized dealerships.
That’s very nice and all, but a new test conducted earlier this week revealed that the Carnival may still be a dangerous vehicle to get into a traffic accident in. During the same side-on collision test, the new rails performed a whole lot better and held the seats in place. However, the load-bearing frame bent too much, leaving the test mannequins with what would amount to severe hip and chest injuries in human passengers.
