The safest cars on the road
To achieve the organization’s fresh Top Safety Pick Plus rating, a two thousand fourteen model car had to have good ratings in its crash tests. That includes the institute’s harsh fresh “puny overlap” test, which simulates hitting a tree or light pole with one corner of the car.
In addition, top-rated vehicles must suggest a crash prevention system at least as an option, including automatic braking or front collision warning. An extra seventeen vehicles that performed well in crash tests but did not suggest accident-prevention technology got the second-level ranking of Top Safety Pick (without the plus).
«Consumers who want crash-prevention technology and the latest in occupant protection have a fair number of vehicles to choose from,» said IIHS President Adrian Lund. «We hope manufacturers will proceed to incorporate front crash prevention, developing more sturdy systems and adding them to more trim levels or, better yet, making them standard equipment.»
Some of the highlights of the institute’s latest car safety rankings:
Raunchy fresh test. The fresh puny overlap crash test posed a problem for vehicles that otherwise did well in the front, side and roof strength rollover tests. This was especially true among petite SUVs.
Of the thirteen 2013 and two thousand fourteen models tested, only the two thousand fourteen Subaru Forester got the instituite’s top «good» rating. The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport got a second-level «acceptable» rating. Several other popular crossovers–including the Ford Escape, BMW X1 and Hyundai Tucson–got marginal or poor ratings. The Honda CR-V also got a marginal rating, Honda`s only poor spectacle on this test.
Honda scored well. The Japanese automaker and its corporate sibling Acura did the best among manufacturers, with six models earning rated as a Top Safety Pick Plus two as a Top Safety Pick. Subaru had three models with the top ranking and two at the 2nd level.
Camry improved. This top-selling Toyota sedan dropped from the safety rankings last year because of poor spectacle in the puny overlap test. But a partial structural redesign won the two thousand fourteen Camry an Acceptable rating in that test and an overall Top Safety Pick. The two thousand fourteen Toyota Prius moved up to a Top Safety Pick Plus.
Here are the total listings of the IIHS top two rankings. Some cars were tweaked and retested with higher scores, so those rankings stipulate only those built after a certain date.