In one year, the winners of the TOP SAFETY PICK+ and TOP SAFETY PICK of the IIHS–Insurance Institute for Highway Safety–have gone from a hundred to less than 50, including 41 from Asia!

While Subaru leads the way with its Ascent, Forester, Legacy and Outback with a perfect score, Toyota, Honda and Mazda, with 15, 8 and 6 models, are the big winners.

European and North American products follow: Volvo 2, Volkswagen 1, Ford 2, Rivian 1 and Tesla 1.

2023 WINNERS
Number per brand

A: TOP SAFETY PICK+
B: TOP SAFETY PICK

Models	A	B	Total
Acura	3		3
Ford		1	1
Genesis	1		1
Honda	3	2	5
Hyundai	1	1	2
Infiniti	1		1
Kia	1		1
Lexus	4	1	5
Lincoln		1	1
Mazda		6	6
Nissan	1	1	2
Rivian	1		1
Subaru	3	2	5
Tesla	1		1
Toyota	5	5	10
Volkswagen	1		1
Volvo	2		2

More resistance

This low number, which reverses the steady increase of recent years, is the result of the tightening of the U.S. highway safety agency’s criteria.

All award-winning 2023s have a side impact rating of 1900 kilos instead of 1500 kilos, automatic headlights, and collision avoidance systems.

Best headlights

Furthermore, since half of all fatal accidents occur at night and pedestrians are victims in 75% of the cases, the IIHS now accepts only the most effective headlights.

While it tolerated fair and even poor lighting until last year, it now encourages manufacturers to equip their vehicles with adaptive headlights; 19 of the 48 winners have them.

Night-time detection of pedestrians

In addition to these multidirectional headlights, which are in the category of those that reduce swerving by 15% to 19%, there are now nighttime pedestrian detection systems.

As for the effectiveness of adaptive cruise control in reducing collisions, the IIHS will not comment on this issue until the results of the studies conducted on this subject are known.

EXCLUSIVE REPORT
TOP SAFETY PICK+ 2023
Models

1: Adaptive headlights

2: Automatic headlights

3: Headlight performance

4: Vehicle detection

5: Daytime detection of pedestrians

*: Night detection of pedestrians

+: Optional system

A B C: Headlight and radar performance according to version

Models	1	2	3	4	5
Acura Integra	X	√	B	A	A A*
Acura MDX	X	√	A	A	A B*
Acura RDX	X	√	A	A	A B*
Genesis G90	X	√	B	A	A
Honda CR-V	X	√	A	A	A B*
Honda HR-V	X	√	B	A	A A*
Honda Odyssey	X	√	B	A	A B*
Hyundai Palisade	X	√	A	A	A A*
Infiniti QX60	1 / 4	√	A	A	A A*
Kia Telluride	X	√	A	A	A A*
Lexus NX	5 / 11	√	A	A	A A*
Lexus NX Plug-in	1 / 2	√	A	A	A -A*
Lexus RX	X	√	A	A	A A*
Lexus UX	X	√	A	A	A A*
Nissan Pathfinder	X	√	B	A	A A*
Rivian R1T	X	√	A	A	A B*
Subaru Ascent	√	√	A	A	A A*
Subaru Outback	√	√	A	A	A A*
Subaru Solterra 1	X	√	A	A	A A*
Tesla Y	X	√	A B	A	A A*
Toyota Camry 2	1 / 8	√	A B	A	A A*
Toyota Highlander	2 / 10	√	A B	A	A A*
Toyota Sienna	X	√	A	A	B B*
Toyota Tundra	X	√	A B	A	A B*
Toyota Tundra extended	X	√	A B	A	A B*
Volkswagen W ID.4	1 / 2	√	A B	A	B B*
Volvo XC90	√	√	B	A	A B*
Volvo XC90 Recharge	√	√	B	A	A B*

¹ Subaru Solterra built after September 2022
² Toyota Camry built in 2023

TOP SAFETY PICK 2023
Models

Models	1	2	3	4	5
Ford Explorer	1 / 4	√	B	A A+	A B+ C*
Honda Civic	X	√	A	A	A B*
Honda Civic Hayon	X	√	A	A	A B*
Hyundai Sonata 3	X	√	A C	A	A B*
Lexus ES 350	X	√	A	A	B A*
Lincoln Nautilus	X	√	A B	A A+	B* B*
Mazda 3	3 / 9	√	A B	A	A
Mazda 3 Hayon	3 / 7	√	A B	A	A
Mazda CX-30	2 / 7	√	A	A	A
Mazda CX-5	4 / 9	√	A B	A	B
Mazda CX-50	3 / 9	√	A B	A	A C*
Mazda CX-9	3 / 5	√	A	A	B C*
Nissan Rogue	X	√	A	A	A
Subaru Forester	√	√	A	A	A A*
Subaru Legacy	√	√	A	A	A A*
Toyota Corolla berline	X	√	A	A	A
Toyota Corolla hayon	X	√	A	A	A
Toyota RAV4	X	√	A	A	A
Toyota RAV4 Prime	X	√	A	A	A
Toyota Venza	X	√	B	A	A A*

³ Hyundai Sonata built after September 2022

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Source: IIHS.org