Toyota, Honda, Mazda top winners of IIHS' toughened safety awards

The number of vehicles earning the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's top awards in 2023 dropped compared with the previous year as the group called for better side crash protection and pedestrian crash prevention systems and toughened requirements for headlights.

Twenty-eight models received the Top Safety Pick+ award this year, compared with 65 models at this point in 2022. Another 20 models earned the Top Safety Pick designation, compared with 36 in 2022, according to a release.

"The number of winners is smaller this year because we're challenging automakers to build on the safety gains they've already achieved," IIHS President David Harkey said in a statement. "These models are true standouts in both crashworthiness and crash prevention."

The year's top award winners were Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp.

A vehicle's crashworthiness was evaluated through four tests to qualify for a Top Safety Pick Award in 2023, as opposed to six tests in years prior. Vehicles must receive a "good" rating in three frontal tests and an "acceptable" or "good" rating for the updated side crash test.

This year's IIHS side crash test involved 82 percent more energy than the original, and vehicles had to earn a "good" rating to qualify for the "plus" tier award.

Additionally, "advanced or superior performance" in the nighttime and daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention test was added as a criteria for the "plus" award. To earn a Top Safety Pick award, only a daytime rating of "advanced" or "superior" is required.

IIHS added the nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluation requirement because half of fatal U.S. crashes and three-quarters of fatal pedestrian crashes occur at night, which shows pedestrian crash avoidance systems perform poorly, a release said.

"U.S. traffic fatalities hit a 20-year high in the first half of 2022, in part due to a steady climb in pedestrian crashes," Harkey said in a statement. "Safer vehicles can be an important part of the solution, even though reversing the trend will also take a concerted effort from policymakers and other stakeholders."

2023 headlight requirements are stricter, with both awards requiring "standard acceptable" or "good" headlights across all trim levels and packages. The requirements make it impossible for a vehicle to win either award if a consumer could buy a trim equipped with inferior headlights, IIHS said.

Roof strength, head restraining and vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention tests have been removed from the award criteria. Vehicles have consistently done well in this area, and federal regulations have made the roof strength test less important than it once was, Harkey told Automotive News.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Toyota and Lexus vehicles earned nine Top Safety Pick+ and six Top Safety Pick awards.

Honda Motor Co.'s Honda and Acura brands earned six Top Safety Pick+ and two Top Safety Pick awards.

Mazda Motor Corp. earned six Top Safety Pick awards.

Nineteen models classified by the institute as SUVs — including the Honda CR-V, Hyundai Palisade and Acura MDX earned Top Safety Pick+ awards. Eleven SUVs — including the Mazda CX-30, Ford Explorer and Lincoln Nautilus — earned Top Safety Pick+ awards. (Editor's note: Automotive News classifies these vehicles as crossovers.)

Three pickups — the Rivian R1T crew cab, Toyota Tundra crew cab and Toyota Tundra extended cab — earned Top Safety Pick+ awards.

Two minivans — the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna — earned Top Safety Pick+ awards.

Award criteria will continue to get tougher on automakers in 2024. The updated side evaluation will require a strict "good" rating for both awards A "good" or "acceptable" rating in the updated moderate overlap front test will then be required for the "plus" award.

In past years, the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues kept IIHS from stiffening their requirements too much, Harkey said.

"Looking forward, we're going to continue to tighten things up. … In 2024, there's some other big changes coming," he said. "For Top Safety Pick, you've got quite a few models that are earning the award with an acceptable rating in the updated site crash test. Of course, that's not going to be good enough in 2024, so we could expect those vehicles, if they're not redesigned, to fall off the award list next year."

Continuous updates to the award requirements push manufacturers toward a higher level of safety, according to a release. When the IIHS introduced the first side test in 2003, many tested vehicles earned a poor rating. By the time IIHS launched an updated version of the test in 2021, "virtually every vehicle built for the U.S. market earned a good rating in the original test."