Are you driving one of the safest vehicles on the road?
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is helping drivers answer that question by releasing a new list of vehicles in 2024, ranking them based on how safe they are.
“This year’s winners are true standouts, offering the highest level of protection for both vehicle occupants and other vulnerable road users,” said David Harkey, president of the group.
The IIHS is an independent, nonprofit, scientific and educational organization that evaluates vehicles.
Its highest safety award is a “Top Safety Pick+,” while its second-highest is called a “Top Safety Pick.”
According to the 2024 rankings, Hyundai Motor Group — which includes the Genesis, Hyundai and Kia brands — has the most awards overall with six Top Safety Pick+ awards and 10 Top Safety Picks for a total of 16 awards.
Toyota Motor Corp. — which includes the Toyota and Lexus brands — had the next highest total, with one Top Safety Pick+ and 12 Top Safety Picks.
Mazda also did well, receiving five Top Safety Pick+ awards and one Top Safety Pick.
By class, small SUVs, mid-size SUVs and mid-size luxury SUVs were tied for the most Top Safety Pick+ awards, with five each.
Mid-size luxury SUVs, which qualified for an additional 12 Top Safety Picks, earned the most awards overall.
Relatively few cars and pickups qualified for either award.
“The high number of SUVs that earn awards probably reflects the dominance of those vehicles in the U.S. market,” said Harkey. “It’s disappointing that only four pickups and four mid-size cars earn awards, considering the popularity of those classes.”
According to Harkey, the safety rankings were stricter this year when evaluating crash tests.
“What we were looking at what was different because not only did we look at potential injury to the driver, but we looked at potential injury to the rear passenger,” Harkey said. “This is something new.”
According to Harkey, researchers started focusing on that after learning that the injury risk had shifted from someone being more likely as a belted passenger to be injured in the rear seat rather than in the front seat.
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