For the upcoming year, vehicles will have to pass an additional crash test if they want to qualify for the highest award available from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The new passenger-side small overlap test replicates what happens when a vehicle's right corner crashes into an object or another vehicle at 40 mph.

IIHS has issued ratings in the small overlap test for several years now, but only on the driver's side of the vehicle. Starting with the 2018 awards cycle, vehicles will have to earn "Good" or "Acceptable" ratings in the passenger-side test to be considered for the Top Safety Pick+ award.

Two sedans earned "Marginal" ratings: the 2017 Volkswagen Passat and Chevrolet Malibu. In both vehicles, the dummy's head slid off the airbag and hit the dashboard. In the real world, such a crash could cause head injuries, says IIHS.

Despite a few issues, these vehicles generally performed much better in the test than vehicles that were previously tested for research. Unlike a group of 2014-2016 small SUVs that IIHS evaluated, none of the new crop of vehicles showed signs of structural problems. Instead, some of the new vehicles need to work on airbag protection, IIHS claims.

For this test, IIHS will accept test data and video footage from automakers to issue a score. If a car has a "Good" driver-side small overlap rating, IIHS may rate the vehicle's passenger-side capabilities based on data submitted by automakers rather than its own tests.

Source: IIHS