IIHS announces 2017 Top Safety Picks

Arlington, Virginia — December 11, 2016 — The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released its 2017 Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ lists. Good or acceptable ratings in the Institute’s new headlight evaluations set the latest crop of qualifiers apart. A total of 38 models earned the “plus” accolade, and 44 earned Top Safety Pick.

IIHS toughened the criteria for Top Safety Pick+ to reflect new headlight evaluations launched in 2016. The recognition program is meant to encourage manufacturers to offer state-of-the-art protection for people in crashes, along with features that help drivers avoid crashes in the first place. In addition to good or acceptable headlights, the latter includes automatic braking technology, which has been part of the criteria since 2015.

“The field of contenders is smaller this year because so few vehicles have headlights that do their job well, but it’s not as small as we expected when we decided to raise the bar for the awards,” says Adrian Lund, IIHS President. “Manufacturers are focusing on improving this basic safety equipment, and we’re confident that the winners’ list will grow as the year progresses.”

For both awards, models must earn good ratings in the small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, as well as an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention with standard or optional autobrake. Headlights are factored in only for the top award.

IIHS launched headlight ratings in the spring after finding that standards based on laboratory tests allow for huge variation in the amount of illumination headlights provide in on-road driving. Nighttime visibility is critical to highway safety because about half of traffic deaths occur either in the dark or at dawn or dusk.

In the Institute’s evaluations, engineers measure how far light is projected from a vehicle’s low beams and high beams as the vehicle travels straight and on curves. Glare from low beams for oncoming drivers also is measured. Vehicles equipped with high-beam assist, which automatically switches between high beams and low beams depending on the presence of other vehicles, can get extra credit.

IIHS evaluations show that a vehicle’s price tag doesn’t correspond to the quality of headlights. More modern lighting types, including high-intensity discharge (HID) and LED lamps, and curve-adaptive systems, which swivel in the direction of steering, also are no guarantee of good performance.

2017 Top Safety Pick+

To qualify for 2017 Top Safety Pick+, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the five crashworthiness tests, an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention and a good or acceptable headlight rating.

Small cars

Chevrolet Volt

Hyundai Elantra

sedan only; built after March 2016

Mazda 3

4-door sedan | 4-door hatchback

Toyota Corolla

Toyota Prius

built after August 2016

Midsize cars

Honda Accord 4-door

Mazda 6

Nissan Altima

Nissan Maxima

Subaru Legacy

Subaru Outback

Toyota Camry

Toyota Prius v

Volkswagen Jetta

Midsize luxury cars

Audi A4

Lexus ES 350

Volvo S60

Volvo V60

Large luxury cars

Genesis G80

Genesis G90

Lexus RC

Small SUVs

Mazda CX-3

Mitsubishi Outlander

Nissan Rogue

Subaru Forester

Toyota RAV4

Midsize SUVs

Honda Pilot

Hyundai Santa Fe

built after March 2016

Midsize luxury SUVs

Acura MDX

Acura RDX

Audi Q5

Buick Envision

Lexus NX

Lexus RX

Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class

Volvo XC60

Minivan

Chrysler Pacifica

built after August 2016

Large pickup

Honda Ridgeline

2017 Top Safety Pick

To qualify for 2017 Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the five crashworthiness tests, as well as an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention.

Minicars

Mini Cooper Hardtop 2-door

Toyota Yaris iA

Small cars

Acura ILX

Honda Civic 2-door

Honda Civic 4-door

Lexus CT 200h

Nissan Sentra

Subaru Crosstrek

Subaru WRX

Volkswagen Golf 4-door