[harpastum]

This a strange framing, because the implication is that small cars are much less safe than others. But this article doesn't mention anything at all about SUVs/trucks. A quick search shows multiple articles saying that all types of cars/SUVs/trucks are doing pretty poorly with this new test on average.

Many Popular SUVs Lag Behind in Rear Seat Safety, New Crash Tests Show https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/many-popular...

Very large 3-row SUVs might do better on this new test, but I can't actually find many examples. Rivian R1S Is the Only Large SUV To Earn Top Safety Pick+ Award From IIHS https://www.autoevolution.com/news/rivian-r1s-is-the-only-la...

[pengaru]

Crash test/safety ratings are useless for comparing across vehicle classes.

Generally speaking smaller cars are the loser when it comes to collisions, if the other vehicle is larger/heavier. Even if both sides have best-in-class safety scores.

[mardifoufs]

I'm pretty sure those results can only be compared across vehicles of the same class. As in, a bigger car can get a poor rating while still being better than a smaller car with a good rating.

[MichaelZuo]

Crash test results in the U.S. are ranked relative to other vehicles of roughly the same size. They aren't measured on an absolute scale.

[badpun]

On the other han, euro crash tests are absolute (as far as I know). You can see the decrease in safety in smaller car models, down to which part of the body is getting crashed in which type of collision in a smaller car, but is intact in a larger car.

[MichaelZuo]

Euro crash tests include large weighted components of safety to others outside the car.

So it's totally possible for a car more safe then another for its passengers, in all conditions, to be nonetheless ranked lower because of lower pedestrian safety or something.

[badpun]

You can also check out how the car does in specific tests. So, if you want to ignore risk to pedestrians, you can.