Honda Odyssey Tops Minivan Crash Test

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NEW YORK (CBSMiami) - The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is out with a new round of crash tests, this time the group looked at minivans.

Researchers tested three minivans - the Honda Odyssey, Chrysler Pacifica and Toyota Sienna - to see how they performed in crash tests on the front corner of the passenger side.

The Odyssey came out on top with a Good overall rating. The Pacifica was given an Acceptable rating.

"Both the Honda Odessey and Chrysler Pacifica are IIHSs top safety picks, they have good ratings in all of our other crash tests," said the group's chief researcher David Zuby.

Zuby said says the seatbelts and airbags performed well in all the minivans, but the Sienna only received a marginal rating overall.

"The safety cage collapsed so much that we measured front parts of the vehicle structure moving back toward the passenger dummy as much as than 20 inches," said Zuby.

Researchers also tested five minivans to see how easy it was to install car seats using the vehicles built in latch hardware. Like the crash test, the Honda Odyssey received the highest grade for ease of use. The Dodge Grand Caravan, Kia Sedona, and Toyota Sienna finished with an Acceptable. The Chrysler Pacifica received a Marginal rating.

The IIHS said, overall, latch ratings have improved over the past three years as have crash test performances as automakers continue to build safer vehicles.