Injuries Likely in 47% of Crash Tests

The government released final crash test results for 1987 cars, vans and trucks Thursday, saying that in nearly half the total 38 tests at least one front seat occupant likely would have suffered severe, perhaps fatal, head injuries.

The severity of injury to front-seat occupants in the 35-m.p.h. head-on crash into a barrier ranged widely, with the impact to the occupants as much as seven times as great in some vehicles as in others.

According to the test results, either the driver or front-seat passenger in 18 of the 38 vehicles tested, or 47%, suffered a blow to the head that was severe enough to likely have caused death or extremely serious injury.

The tests are conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over a number of months. Some of the results had been made public previously.

The vehicles with the poorest record were the Jeep Comanche pickup; Volkswagen Fox 2-door; Nissan Sentra 4-door; Yugo GV 2-door hatchback, and Peugeot 505 4-door.

The cars with the best head injury rating were the Oldsmobile Calais 4-door; Ford Mustang LX 2-door hatchback; Ford Escort 2-door hatchback; Saab 9000 4-door hatchback and Acura Integra 2-door hatchback.