NHTSA Finally Releases Cybertruck Crash Test, Just Don't Ask About Pedestrian Safety
What tests did the NHTSA carry out on the Tesla Cybertruck?
Video of the testing, which you can see for yourself above, kicked off with a frontal crash test, which was designed to simulate a head-on collision between two similar vehicles. To do this, the Cybertruck crashed into a flat, rigid barrier at 35 miles per hour.
The Cybertruck was awarded five stars for its driver protection and four stars for the safety of the passenger. It was similarly successful in the side impact tests, as InsideEVs explains:
In the side crash test, the Cybertruck received an overall safety score of five stars. This category is comprised of two individual tests which are then combined into a single big rating. There's the side barrier test, which simulates an intersection collision between two vehicles, and the side pole test, which simulates a vehicle colliding into a fixed object like a tree or utility pole.
In the side barrier test, a moving non-rigid barrier angled at 27 degrees is crashed into the driver's side of the test vehicle at 38.5 mph. In the side pole test, the test vehicle is angled at 75 degrees and crashed into a rigid pole at 20 mph. In each of these individual tests, the Cybertruck received a five-star rating, both for the front seat and rear seat.
The final test that the Cybertruck was subjected to was a rollover test, in which it scored four out of a possible five.
So the Cybertruck's inhabitants are fine, but what about pedestrians?
This is where American safety tests fall short, as they currently don't offer any ratings on the safety of other things that may hit a car. Other squishy things like humans who are just walking or cycling by the side of the road.
It's in this area that the safety of the Cybertruck has always been questioned, as it's a slab-sided beast that weighs nearly 7,000 pounds and is covered in sharp corners. These qualities don't bode well for pedestrian safety, and experts have repeatedly warned about the risks Cybertrucks pose to walkers and cyclists, as NBC News reports:
Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety — a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization — said the Cybertruck poses a variety of threats to pedestrians.
According to Tesla's website, the Cybertruck Cyberbeast model clocks in at 6,843 pounds, and can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 2.6 seconds. For comparison, the 2023 Ford F-150 starts at slightly more than 4,000 pounds, and can go from 0-60 mph in about 5.5 seconds.
Brooks said the Cybertruck's extreme acceleration capabilities, combined with its weight, means that drivers will have less time to react to pedestrians, and collisions with them will be deadlier.
He said the Tesla Cybertruck will be dangerous to occupants of other cars, as well.
Because of this, the truck isn't allowed for sale in Europe, and buyers across the pond have to cover all the Cybertruck's sharp corners in rubber to pedestrian-proof the truck.
Tests to gauge the safety of cars and trucks to pedestrians have been proposed by the NHTSA, and a check on the crashworthiness of pedestrian protection on cars was approved just last year. The Cybertruck wasn't subjected to such testing, though.
The results of the NHTSA tests will be welcomed by most Cybertruck owners, as the gargantuan electric truck was caught up in several deadly crashes over the past 12 months. Crashes involving Cybertrucks have claimed the lives of at least four people following incidents in Texas and California, but they may not always the fault of the person behind the wheel, however, as one owner claims that their truck's "Full Self-Driving" system caused a massive crash.
