You’ve probably seen videos of their crash tests at some point or other. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is the reference in the industry in the United States (and by extension in Canada) for testing the safety of vehicles currently on the market. Here we take a look at the five 2019 model-year vehicles that have earned the organization’s highest possible Top Safety Pick+ rating as of now.
“To qualify for 2018 Top Safety Pick+, a vehicle must earn Good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, as well as an Acceptable or Good rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test. It also must earn an Advanced or Superior rating for front crash prevention and a Good headlight rating.”
- Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
It’s important to note that in many instances, notably as it concerns performance on headlights tests, the base trims of the models in question do not merit the scores attributed. These ratings apply to models equipped with certain options, at extra cost.
As more 2019 models come on the market in the coming weeks, the IIHS will be doing its crash-test thing on them and will undoubtedly add to their list of best performers. Meantime, though, here we go!
2019 Honda Insight
The newest addition to the IIHS honour roll, the brand-new 2019 Insight was given the 2018 Top Safety Pick+ rating just this week. Derived from Honda’s popular Civic, the electric model is making a comeback after a four-year absence from the market.
The IIHS found that the car’s cabin maintained its integrity well in collisions, significantly reducing the chance of occupant injury. Airbags deployed properly and movement of the dummies in the tests was limited on impact; heads for example kept clear of contact with the side of the vehicle and with outside objects.
