In 2023, the Cadillac XT6 lost its Top Safety Pick+ Award recommendation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), as the luxury crossover performed poorly in a side crash test. Recently, the XT6 earned another ding to its record, as it didn’t hold up as well as expected in the IIHS’ updated moderate overlap crash test.
The IIHS implemented the overlap crash test after research indicated that occupants seated in the second row with fastened seatbelts have a higher risk of being fatally injured than front-row passengers. This strange turn of events is the result of front seats having become safer due to improvements in airbags and seatbelts generally not available in the second row.
The overlap test places a test dummy the size of a small woman or 12-year-old child in the second row behind the driver, then examines the vehicle in a front-end collision. In order to earn a “good” rating, the vehicle must protect the second-row passenger from excessive head, neck, chest and thigh injuries, and the dummy should remain seated correctly without “submarining,” or sliding beneath, the lap belt. There must also be adequate room for the head in the event of a crash, and the shoulder belt should remain on the shoulder.
The Cadillac XT6 was not able to sufficiently protect the rear seat passenger, earning low marks in terms of head, neck and chest injuries. It was also dinged for poor rear passenger restraint, as the test dummy submarined beneath the lap belt. Measurements indicated a moderate risk for head and neck injuries and a high risk for chest injuries. The Cadillac XT6 earned an overall rating of “poor” in this particular crash – the worst score out of eight vehicles tested.
“Though several vehicles in this class performed extremely well, the fact that we saw submarining in half the models we tested shows that many manufacturers still have work to do to improve restraint systems in the second row,” said IIHS President David Harkey.
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