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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has determined that some sport utility vehicles don't provide satisfactory side crash protection.

The IIHS gave marginal scores to the 2008 Chevrolet TrailBlazer, Jeep Grand Cherokee as well as the Nissan Pathfinder and Xterra models without side airbags. With side airbags, the Pathfinder and Xtrerra received top marks in side airbag testing.

In the institute's test, vehicles are struck with a barrier moving at 31 mph to reflect the force of a pickup or sport utility hitting the vehicle.

The TrailBlazer and Grand Cherokee lack air bags that protect the chests and abdomen of front-seat occupants.

According to an Associated Press report, David Zuby, the institute's vice president, said that the combination of weak side structures and the lack of chest protection led to high forces on the driver dummies' chests and abdomens.

Officials from each of the manufacturers whose SUVs received poor marks commented that their vehicles received top marks in side crash tests government-conducted side crash tests.

In frontal testing, all of the SUVs received the top score of "good" except the TrailBlazer, which improved to the second-highest rating level, "acceptable."

In rear crash testing, only the Grand Cherokee received the top rating. The Nissan Pathfinder was rated "marginal" and the rest of the SUVs tested received the low rating of "poor."