Did your favorite car make the cut?
Technology is not only making today's cars more complicated than ever before; it's also making them safer, too. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released the first batch of Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awardees for 2020, and it's a packed list ranging from affordable compact cars to luxury SUVs.
Mazda and Hyundai Motor Group won the most awards. Mazda earned six while Hyundai Motor Group, which includes Kia, Hyundai, and Genesis, received 17 in total. While there's a variety of makes and models on the list, not every automaker made it.
Mitsubishi, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and Porsche are missing. Automakers such as Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes didn't have many winning models either. However, that doesn't mean they can't earn either award later with any mid-year updates to their models.
As cars have become safer, the IIHS's tests have become more rigorous. A vehicle must earn Good ratings in each of the Institute's six crashworthiness tests to earn a Top Safety Pick award. They must also earn a Good or Acceptable headlight rating while offering a front crash prevention system that receives Advanced or Superior ratings. The vehicle must offer the headlights that earned Good or Acceptable ratings across the entire model and not limit it to specific trims to obtain a Top Safety Pick+ designation.
Cars Are Only Getting Safer:
A new area the IIHs is testing cars is pedestrian safety, which is being incorporated into the awards for the first time. Pedestrian fatalities have increased 53 percent since 2009, according to the IIHS. The Institute now tests "an adult pedestrian stepping into the street in the path of the oncoming vehicle with an unobstructed view, a child darting into the street from behind two parked cars, and an adult pedestrian near the side of the road in the travel lane, facing away from traffic."
Click through to see the 64 makes and models that earned the Institute's highest safety awards.
64 vehicles earn 2020 IIHS awards, thanks to state-of-the-art safety
Sixty-four cars and SUVs qualify for an award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety under new criteria that prioritize the protection of pedestrians in addition to vehicle occupants.
To qualify for a 2020 TOP SAFETY PICK or TOP SAFETY PICK+ award, vehicles must have good ratings in each of the Institute’s six crashworthiness evaluations. They must also have good or acceptable headlights and available front crash prevention that earns advanced or superior ratings in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.
The “plus” is awarded to models that come exclusively with good or acceptable headlights, making it easier for consumers to find properly equipped vehicles. Of the 64 award winners, 23 qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK+.
No minivans or pickups qualify for either award so far this year. That could change if automakers make midyear production changes and nominate the vehicle for testing.
“The headlight ratings that have been part of our awards criteria in recent years have pushed automakers to pay more attention to this essential equipment,” says IIHS President David Harkey. “However, finding vehicles with the right headlights can be a challenge for consumers. We wanted to reward automakers that have removed this obstacle.”
Six of the “plus” winners — the Genesis G70, Honda Insight, Hyundai Nexo, Lexus NX, Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid and Tesla Model 3 — aren’t sold with anything other than good-rated headlights. A good rating means headlights provide the best balance of visibility and lack of excessive glare for drivers of oncoming vehicles.
Good visibility is key to avoiding crashes in the dark. In the time it takes a driver to react to an obstacle under ideal conditions — 1½ seconds — a car traveling 55 mph covers about 120 feet. Thus, headlights need to illuminate obstacles well before that. The difference between good-rated headlights and poor ones can be the difference between seeing an obstacle in time to stop and crashing into it.
Front crash prevention
Although consumers who buy a TOP SAFETY PICK+ can be assured that any trim line they choose will be equipped with adequate headlights, they’ll still need to make sure their particular vehicle is equipped with front crash prevention. Vehicles can meet the front crash prevention requirements for either award with optional equipment.
However, 20 TOP SAFETY PICK+ winners and 26 Top Safety Pick winners come with standard systems, as automakers move to meet their voluntary commitment on automatic emergency braking (AEB). The commitment calls for front AEB to be standard on all but the heaviest passenger vehicles by 2022 (see “Four automakers meet automatic emergency braking commitments ahead of 2022 target,” Dec. 17, 2019).
The voluntary commitment calls only for systems that avoid crashes with other vehicles, but many automakers are incorporating vehicle-to-pedestrian functionality.
IIHS launched pedestrian crash prevention ratings about a year ago (“New ratings address pedestrian crashes,” Feb. 21, 2019) and is incorporating them into the TOP SAFETY PICK and TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards for the first time.
Vehicles are evaluated in three scenarios: an adult pedestrian stepping into the street in the path of the oncoming vehicle with an unobstructed view, a child darting into the street from behind two parked cars, and an adult pedestrian near the side of the road in the travel lane, facing away from traffic. Each test is conducted at two different speeds.
Pedestrian detection technology is one solution that could help address rising pedestrian deaths. Annual pedestrian fatalities have increased 53 percent since reaching a low point in 2009, and more than 6,000 pedestrians were killed in crashes in 2018.
“Rewarding technology that protects people outside the vehicle is new territory for the TOP SAFETY PICK awards, but we believe vehicle manufacturers have an important role to play in protecting vulnerable road users,” Harkey says.
Good protection for passengers
This is the first year that a good passenger-side small overlap front rating is required for both awards. Last year, a good or acceptable rating was required for TOP SAFETY PICK, while a good rating was needed to achieve the “plus.”
The passenger-side small overlap evaluation is the newest of the IIHS crashworthiness tests. The Institute launched this test after it became clear that some manufacturers were ignoring the passenger side as they made changes to improve performance in the IIHS driver-side small overlap test.
The small overlap tests are designed to replicate what happens when just the front corner of the vehicle collides with another vehicle or an object like a tree or utility pole. These crashes present a challenge for some seat belt and airbag designs because occupants move both forward and to the side of the vehicle. In addition, crash forces can bypass the vehicle’s main crush-zone structures.
Mazda, Hyundai are standouts
Among automakers, Mazda has the most TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards with five — for the Mazda 3 sedan, Mazda 3 hatchback, Mazda 6, CX-3 and CX-5. The company earns an additional TOP SAFETY PICK for the CX-9.
Hyundai Motor Group — which includes the Genesis and Kia brands in addition to Hyundai — has the most winners overall, 14 earning a TOP SAFETY PICK award and three earning TOP SAFETY PICK+.
No vehicles from Fiat Chrysler or Mitsubishi earn either award this year. Ford/Lincoln, Volvo and BMW haven’t picked up any TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards, while General Motors and Nissan each earn only one TOP SAFETY PICK and one TOP SAFETY PICK+ award.