Trucks these days aren’t just used for work. Most owners take their kids to school with them and their families on road trips.
Because of that, they need to be comfortable and most importantly safe.
If you are in the market for a new truck and safety is one of your top priorities, then you’ve come to the correct place! In this article, we will be going through the safest midsize trucks and least safe midsize trucks on the market.
Depending on crash test results, cars and trucks get a safety rating of either poor, marginal, acceptable, and good. This is the official way of scoring vehicle safety in the US; therefore, these are the examples we are using today.
Least Safe Midsize Truck: 2021 Nissan Frontier
This is not much of a surprise as the underpinnings of the current Frontier date back to the mid-2000s. Small overlap crash tests gave marginal results, and the Frontier has no automatic emergency braking as most new trucks do. An acceptable score was given for seats and head restraint.
GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado Get Some “Marginal” Scores
The crew cab models scored well on the driver’s side small overlap crash test; however, the extended cab models only scored acceptable.
On the small overlap passenger-side crash test both trucks scored marginal while headlights were rated as poor.
Safest Midsize Trucks: Honda Ridgeline Does Well
The ridgeline is based on a unibody construction which is more rigid than a normal ladder frame pickup. This may be the reason why in most tests the Ridgeline scored well except from the passenger side overlap test in which it scored acceptable and the headlight rating which was marginal.
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Ford Ranger Gets Mostly Good Scores
The Ford Ranger got the same score as the Ridgeline with everything being rated as good except from the acceptable small overlap front passenger-side test and the marginal headlight score.
Safest Midsize Trucks: Toyota Tacoma Comes Out on Top
The Tacoma scored the best ratings out of all the midsized trucks and that’s down to the optional headlights. The rest of the scores were the same as the Ridgeline and the Ranger with everything being rated as good except from the acceptable small overlap front passenger-side test.
So, should you avoid trucks such as the Frontier, GMC Canyon, and Chevrolet Colorado? I would avoid them as car safety is evolving so quickly that in a few years vehicles that score poorly in current tests will be considered unsafe. Safety isn’t something that can be taken lightly especially if you are planning on overlanding, and therefore, covering a lot of miles in your truck.