IIHS Updates Its Criteria for Top Safety Pick Awards
Tougher requirements mean the list of 2023 award winners is cut in half compared with previous years.
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Not all automotive crash testing is tied to federal regulators. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has produced in-depth vehicle safety evaluations in the United States since 1959, and the nonprofit began conducting its own independent crash testing roughly three decades ago.
The IIHS Top Safety Pick award, first awarded in 2005, is viewed as one of the strongest stamps of approval regarding a vehicle's ability to protect passengers from injury in an accident. Here's a look at how Top Safety Pick status is decided and what criteria has changed for 2023.
What Is The IIHS Top Safety Pick Award?
The IIHS performs several types of crash tests when evaluating a vehicle. These include a small overlap test for the driver and passenger sides (where the automobile is hit by an offset barrier), a moderate overlap test (with more of the vehicle making contact), and a side impact test. Roof strength is measured by a crush test.
Previously, in order for a manufacturer to claim a Top Safety Pick award for one of its models, the vehicle had to obtain a rating of "good" in each of the above tests. It also had to perform well in terms of its head restraints, provide advanced or superior front crash prevention technologies, such as automatic braking, and offer available headlights that were acceptable in terms of illumination per IIHS standards.
What’s New in IIHS Crash Testing for 2023?
The IIHS periodically changes its Top Safety Pick testing criteria to reflect the changing nature of automobile accidents as cars and trucks get bigger and heavier. For 2023, it updated its side-impact crash test to add 82% more energy than last year's test. It also removed the roof strength and head restraint requirements, and no longer counted automatic braking systems designed to prevent collisions with another vehicle. Pedestrian avoidance, however, remained important. Acceptable or good headlights are now a standard requirement, rather than simply being available on at least one trim level.
The IIHS also updated the criteria for the Top Safety Pick+ award. Winners must meet all the Top Safety Pick award requirements and provide pedestrian-crash-protection systems that work as well at night as they do during the day.
How Many Vehicles Qualify?
For 2022, 101 vehicles for sale in the U.S earned the Top Safety Pick award. Of those, more than half qualified for the Top Safety Pick+ award. As a result of the changed criteria, fewer than 50 cars, trucks, and SUVs as of March 2023 qualify as Top Safety Picks, with 28 earning the Top Safety Pick+ distinction. Toyota and Lexus led the way with the most awards in each category, followed by Honda and Acura.
