This paper examines the field relevance regarding frequency and severity of small overlap accidents by comparing accident data from GIDAS, NASS and Mercedes-Benz accident research and from this perspective shows a proposal of a more realistic small overlap test configuration. The result shows a field relevance of approx. 7% in relation to all frontal impact accidents. With respect to an occupant injury severity of MAIS3+ the field relevance is reduced to approx. 3%. Detailed investigations regarding vehicle deformations and occupant loadings on a Mercedes Benz C-Class (MJ 2013 and earlier) show significantly higher severity in the IIHS load case compared to a typically small overlap field accident. Furthermore, a better severity correlation between field accidents and a car-to-car small overlap or the NHTSA small overlap research load case has been observed. In case of the IIHS small overlap test mode some preferential vehicle concepts related to the results has been observed. Investigations show that front wheel drive vehicles with a “east-west” (lateral) engine mount design seem to have some advantage compared to rear wheel drive vehicles with a “north-south” (longitudinal) engine mount design. Accident data analysis confirms that small overlap accidents have field relevance, although the severity of the accidents is lower compared to the IIHS small overlap test mode. In order to obtain a more realistic test configuration the proposal is to use a deformable barrier in order to simulate this kind of accidents.