IIHS pedestrian, vehicle-to-vehicle tests show struggling cargo vans and pickups

New commercial vehicle safety ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) show that cargo vans and heavy-duty pickups lag behind passenger vehicles in front crash prevention.

While IIHS says marginal and poor ratings are common among the first commercial vehicles put through vehicle-to-vehicle and pedestrian crash avoidance tests, at least one performs well in each test, “showing that meeting the challenge is not out of reach for manufacturers.”

“These results are a wake-up call for commercial vehicle makers,” said IIHS President David Harkey in a press release. “Front crash prevention is especially important for these larger, heavier vans and trucks because of the danger they pose to other road users.”

Cargo vans scored the highest in both tests. The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500 earned a good rating for vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention.

The Chevrolet BrightDrop 400 and Rivian RCV-Delivery 500 earned good ratings for pedestrian crash avoidance.

IIHS launched its commercial vehicle assessment program in June, including driver protection information.

“That part of the assessment checks for essential features such as standard front and side airbags, advanced seatbelt technology, and effective seatbelt reminders,” the IIHS press release states. “Many government standards for passenger vehicles, including airbag requirements, don’t apply to delivery vans, box trucks, tractor-trailers, and larger work pickups.

“Unlike the driver protection evaluation, the vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention and pedestrian front crash prevention evaluations use the Institute’s scale of good, acceptable, marginal, or poor. The test protocols and rating requirements are the same as those used for passenger vehicles.”

IIHS notes that 6,215 people were killed in crashes involving heavy- or medium-duty vehicles or light vans in 2024, accounting for 16% of all roadway fatalities in the U.S. It adds that reducing that toll is a key part of the Institute’s 30×30 vision of reducing fatalities 30% by 2030.

The initial evaluations focus on cargo vans and Class 3 pickup trucks. Class 3 pickups have a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,001 to 14,000 pounds. GVWR is the maximum weight a vehicle can safely carry, including passengers, cargo, and the vehicle’s weight.

IIHS will continue to evaluate Class 3 vehicles this year and next, adding ratings for headlights and rear automatic emergency braking (AEB), according to the release. The Institute plans to phase in trucks in classes four through six later.

Vehicle-to-vehicle crash prevention

The Chevrolet Express 2500 and the GMC Savana 2500 cargo vans earn poor ratings in the vehicle-to-vehicle and pedestrian tests because they lack AEB. IIHS says AEB is an optional feature only available on vehicles with a forward collision warning system.

Performance varied widely among the other vans and pickup trucks in the vehicle-to-vehicle test. The test evaluates forward collision warning and AEB at different speeds with a passenger car target and a motorcycle target. It also evaluates forward collision warning with a semitrailer.

The Sprinter 2500 earned a good rating, the BrightDrop 400 an acceptable rating, and the others marginal or poor.

IIHS found that the motorcycle target was the biggest challenge. In most motorcycle trials, several of the systems failed to issue warnings or slow down at all.

At most speeds, others successfully slowed to avoid or mitigate collisions with the motorcycle and passenger car targets, but were downgraded because they didn’t provide timely warnings to the driver.

Pedestrian crash prevention

Overall, the vehicles performed better in the pedestrian evaluation than in the vehicle-to-vehicle test, IIHS said.

The pedestrian test represents common daytime and nighttime crashes involving an adult or child crossing the road or an adult walking in the travel lane.

Among cargo vans, the BrightDrop 400 and RCV-Delivery 500 earned good ratings, and the Sprinter 2500 earned an acceptable rating. Among Class 3 pickups, the F-350 and Ram 3500 earned acceptable ratings.

Several vehicles, including the F-350 and Ram 3500, had a harder time detecting and avoiding the child pedestrian dummy in daylight conditions than the adult at night.

“The problem may be related to the shorter height of the child dummy and the tall front ends of the vehicles,” the release states. “That’s because the sensors used for detection are positioned near the rearview mirror. In some instances, the child dummy was detected at a distance but then ‘disappeared’ as the vehicle got closer.”

The poor and marginal systems also failed to slow down enough in most of the nighttime trials with the adult. Those trials are done with low-beam headlights and then again with high beams. Others performed worse at the slowest test speed.

Images

Featured image: The 2025 Chevrolet BrightDrop 400 in IIHS’s pedestrian front crash prevention test.

The 2025 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 2500 in IIHS’s vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention test. 

The 2025 Rivian RCV-Delivery 500 in IIHS’s pedestrian front crash prevention test. 

All photos and ratings chart provided by IIHS