WASHINGTON — The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has updated its Top Safety Pick+ requirements to include good-rated headlights and good or acceptable passenger-side protection in small overlap front crashes — and as a result, just 15 vehicles qualify for top honors.
“Doesn’t mean that vehicles have gotten less safe, it really just reflects that we’ve raised the bar,” IIHS President Adrian Lund told CBS.
Forty-seven others did earn the lesser Top Safety Pick award.
Hyundai, with its Genesis and Kia sub-brands, lead the way.
“That company had six Top Safety Pick+ winners there,” Lund said. “And Subaru continues to be a standout with four of their vehicles winning Top Safety Pick+.”
Subaru had the most Safety Pick+ vehicles.
Vehicles the IIHS studied included small cars, midsize cars, large luxury cars, midsize SUVs and midsize luxury SUVs.
Click through the gallery below to see which cars received top honors.
The Kia Forte sedan was awarded a Top Safety Pick+ from the IIHS.
(Courtesy Kia)
Courtesy Kia
The Kia Soul also earned a Top Safety Pick+ award.
(Courtesy Kia)
Courtesy Kia
The Subaru Imprezza is considered a top choice for safety by the IIHS. Both the 4-door sedan and the 4-door wagon earned a Top Safety Pick+.
(Courtesy Subaru)
Courtesy Subaru
The 2018 Subaru WRX earned a Top Safety Pick+ award.
(Courtesy Subaru)
Courtesy Subaru
The Subaru Legacy was awarded a Top Safety Pick+.
(Courtesy Subaru)
Courtesy Subaru
The Subaru Outback is a Top Safety Pick+ winner.
(Courtesy Subaru)
Courtesy Subaru
The Toyota Camry picked up an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award.
(Courtesy Toyota)
Courtesy Toyota
In the large luxury cars class, the BMW 5 Series is a Top Safety Pick+.
(Courtesy BMW)
Courtesy BMW
The Genesis G80 nabbed a Top Safety Pick+ award.
(Courtesy Genesis)
Courtesy Genesis
The Genesis G90 also picked up a Top Safety Pick+ award.
(Courtesy Genesis)
Courtesy Genesis
The new 2018 Lincoln Continental is a Top Safety Pick+.
(Courtesy Lincoln)
Courtesy Lincoln
Mercedes-Benz picked up a Top Safety Pick+ award with its E-Class sedan.
(Courtesy Mercedes-Benz)
Courtesy Mercedes-Benz
Hyundai’s Hyundai Santa Fe SUV grabbed a Top Safety Pick+ award.
(Courtesy Hyundai)
Courtesy Hyundai
As did the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport.
(Courtesy Hyundai)
Courtesy Hyundai
The Mercedes-Benz GLC is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ winner.
(Courtesy Mercedes-Benz)
William Vitka is a Digital Writer/Editor for WTOP.com. He's been in the news industry for over a decade. Before joining WTOP, he worked for CBS News, Stuff Magazine, The New York Post and wrote a variety of books—about a dozen of them, with more to come.
