BMW, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Toyota earned top crash test awards from the IIHS
Seven vehicles from BMW, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Toyota have earned top safety awards from the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for 2023 – and thanks to more rigorous testing, these awards are now, and will be, harder to earn. So in 2024.
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) performs four crash ratings for moderate overlap frontal, small overlap driver-side, passenger-side, and side impact. The tests are intended to overlap because most frontal collisions are not completely direct, but rather go to one side, with drivers being swept or turned into oncoming vehicles. Tests are also being conducted on crash prevention systems that must recognize and brake pedestrians, along with headlights, seat belt reminders and child seat anchors. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tests vehicles it purchases from dealers, and is only reimbursed if an automaker requests testing outside of IIHS’s regular testing schedule.
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In 2021, the IIHS updated its side-impact test with a larger, heavier barrier moving at a higher speed, which better simulates a collision with a larger SUV. In 2022, the moderate frontal overlap test was updated by adding a dummy mounted behind the driver, to evaluate the potential injury of a rear-seat passenger in a frontal crash.
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) said the Mitsubishi Outlander did not receive a Pick+ rating because it was not rated in the nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian test. The Toyota Corolla Cross received a “superior” rating in both daytime and nighttime pedestrian crash tests, but only an “acceptable” rating in the updated side-by-side test.
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The IIHS previously reported that less than half of the vehicles that earned the top award in 2022 have repeated it for 2023, primarily due to the new side test. Historically, this has been the case — when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) updates any of its tests, it’s common for a number of vehicles to receive lower ratings, only to revert back in subsequent tests as automakers redesign them to meet the new standards. .
When the original side-impact test — a test that has now been updated to simulate SUVs — was introduced in 2003, most cars tested “poor,” but by 2021, “almost every vehicle built for the U.S. market received a “good” rating. “”. IIHS said.
While getting “Good” or “Acceptable” on the new side test is enough to earn a Top Safety Pick award for 2023, only “Good” will qualify in 2024. Additionally, for a Top Safety Pick+ award in 2023 2024, the car will have to meet the following conditions: Score ‘Good’ or ‘Acceptable’ in the new moderate front overlap – which adds a dummy for the back seat – and expect that to move to ‘Good’ – only in the future as well.
