It goes without saying that new cars and trucks today are designed from the get-go to be very safe. After all, most world governments now require strict safety standards. But the new 2017 Nissan Titan, it has just been announced by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), received only a "Marginal" score in the small overlap crash test. That's obviously not very good and the small overlap test is important because it replicates a 40 mph impact at the driver-side corner of a vehicle, one of the most common types of accidents.

The IIHS claims its dummy driver suffered injuries to the left lower leg, and maybe the left foot and right lower leg as well. That's what happens when an impact literally shoves metal into the driver.

The IIHS also gave the Titan a "Marginal" for the outside crash because, for whatever reason, Nissan doesn't offer it with a front crash prevention system. So how does the Titan stack up against its direct competitors? The Ford F-150 remains the best full-size pickup truck as far as the IIHS is concerned, after receiving top scores in all crash tests. The Chevrolet Silverado, Ram 1500 and Toyota Tundra, however, also were given "Marginal" scores in the small overlap test, so the Titan isn't the only guilty party here. But there is one pickup truck, though not classified as full-size, that earned the highest ratings of them all: the Honda Ridgeline.