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It’s time to recognize the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 for another crucial achievement in the full-size truck space. New crash testing standards show that the 2023 Chevy Silverado 1500 could be the best option for families. 

Is the 2023 Chevy Silverado 1500 good for families?

The 2023 Chevy Silverado driving on the road
2023 Chevy Silverado | Chevrolet

Yes, the 2023 Chevy Silverado 1500 is an excellent truck for families to consider. It has a spacious backseat and tons of storage options for your gear. Different engines, such as the Duramax diesel, offer a broad range of towing capacities for campers and enhance fuel efficiency. 

Also, according to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), the Silverado 1500 offers superior protection for rear passengers. In the updated side crash for passenger safety, the Toyota Tundra, Ram 1500, and Ford F-150 got ‘Poor’ ratings. 

However, the Silverado earned an ‘Acceptable’ rating, putting it ahead of the pack. Typically, the rear seat is the safest place for children as they could be ingested by inflating airbags in the front. 

IIHS discovered that the front seats in large trucks have higher safety ratings than the rear. This is because safety improvements have been made to the front seats of trucks while leaving the backseat behind. 

So, a new test was developed to emphasize passenger safety during front and side collisions. A smaller dummy about the size of an average woman or 12-year-old is placed in the back seat to measure the most common injuries. 

To earn a ‘Good’ rating, there can’t be an excessive risk of injury to the passenger’s head, neck, torso, or thighs. The passenger must remain securely in the seat with the seatbelt on their shoulder. 

How much the dummy moves, like toward the back of the front seat and seatbelt positions are measured by sensors. 

While the Chevy Silverado 1500 has improvements to make, it has a lower risk of excessive head, neck, and chest injuries. 

How safe is the 2023 Silverado 1500? 

The 2023 Chevy Silverado 1500 is a pretty safe truck, but like its rivals, there are improvements that could be made. It has plenty of ‘Good’ ratings for certain crash tests, which is the highest score possible. 

But it earned a few ‘Acceptable’ and ‘Poor’ scores as well. It has good roof strength, mostly good rear passenger protection ratings, a poor headlight rating, and an acceptable passenger leg protection rating. 

The Silverado got an Advanced score for avoiding collisions with other vehicles and pedestrians. It avoided collisions with adults at speeds of 12 and 25 mph. At 37 mph, speed was reduced by 32 mph, and a warning was issued 2.2 seconds before impact. 

The child seat anchors got a poor rating because the anchors are too deep in the seat, hard to find, and could be confused with other hardware. 

What are the standard Silverado safety features? 

The 2023 Chevy Silverado parked near a home
2023 Chevy Silverado | Chevrolet

The 2023 Chevy Silverado 1500 has the following standard safety features: 

  • Forward collision warning 
  • Automatic emergency braking 
  • Blind-spot monitoring 
  • Rear cross-traffic alert 
  • Lane departure warning 
  • Lane-keeping assist 

Optional safety features include: 

  • Automatic high beams 
  • Adaptive cruise control 
  • A surround-view camera system 
  • Parking sensors 
  • Trailer blind-spot warning 

Stay tuned as we continue evaluating truck safety scores. Does being safer than the rest for backseat passengers give the 2023 Silverado a true advantage? Tell us what you think.