2025 Jeep Gladiator Updated Moderate Overlap Test Results Are In And It Changes Everything

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has now put the 2025 Jeep Gladiator through its updated moderate overlap front crash test, and this one matters because it is built to expose the kind of real-world frontal hit that can be rough on the second row. The updated test adds a rear-seat dummy and puts more attention on how well the back-seat passenger is managed during the crash, not just the driver up front.

The headline is simple: the Gladiator earns a Good overall rating in the updated moderate overlap front test, and that is a meaningful step forward compared with where this truck has been in the past. If you follow IIHS testing history, you know the Gladiator had a reputation for struggling here, especially when rear-seat protection became part of the scoring conversation. This time, the structure and safety cage are rated Good, and the driver’s protection is rated well across the key injury measures. The rear passenger portion is where everyone looks first, and the Gladiator does much better at controlling the rear dummy’s motion and keeping the belt engagement working the way it is supposed to.

A big reason the result improved is that Jeep made rear-seat belt hardware upgrades starting with the 2024 model year. IIHS notes the addition of rear seat belt pretensioners and load limiters, which are the kinds of changes that can reduce how hard the belt loads the chest and help keep the passenger positioned correctly as the crash unfolds. In plain language, it is not just “strong truck” engineering. It is restraint tuning, and that is exactly what this updated test is designed to reward.

On the IIHS page, the Gladiator still shows an incomplete rating for the small overlap front category because it has only been tested on one side. And the overall driver-side small overlap result that applies here is not a win: it is downgraded to Marginal due to a tipping event in the test scenario. That is the kind of detail that safety-focused shoppers will care about, because the small overlap test is one of the core “gatekeeper” evaluations for top awards.

There is also the issue of crash avoidance and lighting. Headlights vary by trim, but the Gladiator’s headlight ratings include Marginal and Poor depending on configuration, and its standard pedestrian front crash prevention rating is Poor. That combination is a major reason the Gladiator does not land an IIHS award even with a strong moderate overlap result. So the real takeaway is this: the Gladiator finally posts a strong performance where it used to be vulnerable, but it still has work to do in the areas that help prevent a crash in the first place.