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Does the list of Top Safety Pick cars get a lot shorter this year? You are right. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, also known as the IIHS, made it harder for car manufacturers to earn the coveted badge.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an independent nonprofit group that focuses on how vehicles sold to the public perform in accidents. They are not funded or associated with the federal government. Reports and recommendations provided by the IIHS are used by the automotive industry and the government to improve manufacturing standards, aiming to save lives on the road.
Each year, the IIHS awards its Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ badge to vehicles that surpass their testing standards. They raised the bar for 2023, which resulted in numerous vehicles losing their Top Safety Pick status.
New vehicles must earn:
Acceptable or Good rating on the side impact test
Good ratings on frontal and overlap impact tests
Advanced or Superior ratings for headlight performance
Advanced or Superior rating for autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection
In order to score the Top Safety Pick+, the ratings increase to:
Good on the side impact test
Advanced or Superior rating for nighttime autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection
In 2021, the side impact test was updated at the IIHS for the first time since 2003. The weight of the “vehicle” that is driven into the side of the test subject was increased by 880 pounds, to reflect the heavier SUVs that are more common on our roads. The speed also increased by 6 mph to match the average speed of these types of impacts.
In past years, the headlights that earned the Acceptable or Superior rating on a model could be optional equipment. In 2023, they must be standard, which means that even the base trim will have improved road visibility.
Previously, smart safety systems needed to demonstrate the ability to detect pedestrians and apply automatic brakes in daylight. Studies showed that 75% of pedestrian fatalities happen at night, so they changed the test to operate under dim conditions.
Safety systems that are now standard on every car used to be part of the Top Safety Pick criteria such as electronic stability control and roof rigidity in rollovers. As the automakers upgrade their designs to meet or surpass the standards, the old requirements are eliminated from the testing process.
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