More Vehicles Earn Highest IIHS Award
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has recognized 49 vehicle models for achieving the institute’s highest safety award, the Top Safety Pick+, after crash testing. This is more than double the number of vehicles that earned the top designation in 2020. An additional 41 vehicles earned the next highest award, the Top Safety Pick. Combined, the number of Top Safety Picks (with and without the +) for 2021 was 90, compared to 64 vehicles that were recognized in 2020.
For a vehicle to earn an award, it must have good ratings in each of the following IIHS crash tests:
- Small overlap front – driver-side
- Small overlap front – passenger-side
- Side
- Moderate overlap front
- Head restraints
- Roof strength
The winning models must have available options that earn a rating of superior or advanced for front crash prevention in tests involving vehicle-to-vehicle impacts as well as vehicle-to-pedestrian. Finally, the winners must have available options that include good or acceptable headlights. To earn the top award, with the + designation, models must have good or acceptable headlights throughout all package and trim levels.
Top Safety Picks: Winners and Losers
Hyundai Motor Group, which includes the brands Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis, earned the most awards for 2021. The company picked up 12 TOP SAFETY PICK prizes and five that earned the plus designation. Volvo earned the highest number of + awards, at nine.
Automaker Mitsubishi failed to earn a single award. General Motors earned just one Top Safety Pick and one with a plus designation. That number is notably low given how large a manufacturer GM is.
Watch the YouTube video. Professional golfer Tiger Woods was recently involved in a serious car crash while driving a Genesis. In the clip below, Good Morning America looks at how this brand’s safety features may have saved his life.
IIHS Testing Resulted in Headlight Improvement
The IIHS two-tiered award system began in 2013 when the institute started using it as a method to phase in new safety requirements that could be difficult for all automakers to immediately meet. The first year that headlight ratings were incorporated into the + criteria was 2017. In order to qualify for the + designation that year, vehicles had to at least have an option for good or acceptable headlights. In 2018, the headlight requirement became part of the base award.
As a result of the headlight requirements, manufacturers began producing lamps with less glare and better lighting. To encourage automakers to make improved headlights standard, in 2020 IIHS only gave the plus designation to vehicle models with good or acceptable headlights across all package and trim levels.
The award strategy employed by IIHS appears to be working. Last year, just 23 vehicles earned the top award. The 2021 results show that number has more than doubled. In fact, most of the 2021 awards included the plus designation.
Next Up: Front Crash Prevention
Currently, front crash prevention is not required to qualify for either award tier. However, there is a voluntary commitment from automakers that is encouraging progress in that area. Twenty auto manufacturers have joined in on a pledge to include vehicle-to-vehicle automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems on at least 95% of their products starting in the 2022-2023 production year.
To see a list of IIHS’s awards for 2021, visit the News section of their website.
Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer
Hello, and thank you for reading our discussion of IIHS’s Top Safety Picks. I’m Ed Smith, and I have been a practicing Sacramento personal injury lawyer for more than 38 years. During that time, I have dedicated my life to helping injured Northern Californians. We love seeing the continuing advances in vehicle safety and look forward to the day when motor vehicle accidents are rare. Unfortunately, we are not there yet. Serious accidents that cause devastating injuries happen every day on the roads and highways surrounding the Sacramento area. If you have suffered injuries in a car crash caused by a negligent driver, please reach out to our injury lawyers for compassionate, free, and friendly advice at (916) 921-6400. If you will be calling from a phone registered outside the local area code, use our toll-free number: (800) 404-5400. If you prefer, you may also send your questions via our online form.
Photo: https://pixabay.com/photos/crash-test-collision-60-km-h-1620591/
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