Moderate overlap front: original test
Rating applies to 1996-99 models
Tested vehicle: 1996 Ford Taurus GL 4-door
The Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable were redesigned for the 1996 model year.
| Evaluation criteria | Rating |
|---|---|
| Overall evaluation | |
| Structure and safety cage | |
| Driver injury measures | |
| Head/neck | |
| Chest | |
| Leg/foot, left | |
| Leg/foot, right | |
| Driver restraints and dummy kinematics | |
Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.
The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well.
Crumpled sheet metal in front of the occupant compartment indicates where the crash energy was absorbed. A strong safety cage helped keep the tire out of the driver footwell area.
The head restraints are poor. Even when they're adjusted to the highest position, they're too far below and behind the top of an average-size male's head to provide adequate protection.
Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side
| Evaluation criteria | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Test ID | CF95029 |
| Footwell intrusion | |
| Footrest (cm) | 8 |
| Left (cm) | 15 |
| Center (cm) | 16 |
| Right (cm) | 16 |
| Brake pedal (cm) | 19 |
| Instrument panel rearward movement | |
| Left (cm) | 5 |
| Right (cm) | 5 |
| Steering column movement | |
| Upward (cm) | 2 |
| Rearward (cm) | 3 |
| A-pillar rearward movement (cm) | 4 |
Driver injury measures
| Evaluation criteria | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Test ID | CF95029 |
| Head | |
| HIC-15 | 254 |
| Peak gs at hard contact | 21 |
| Neck | |
| Tension (kN) | 1.4 |
| Extension bending moment (Nm) | 34 |
| Maximum Nij | 0.35 |
| Chest maximum compression (mm) | 36 |
| Legs | |
| Femur force - left (kN) | 4.6 |
| Femur force - right (kN) | 1.7 |
| Knee displacement - left (mm) | 0 |
| Knee displacement - right (mm) | 0 |
| Maximum tibia index - left | 0.45 |
| Maximum tibia index - right | 0.48 |
| Tibia axial force - left (kN) | 1.3 |
| Tibia axial force - right (kN) | 1.4 |
| Foot acceleration (g) | |
| Left | 85 |
| Right | 69 |