IIHS Safety Ratings Explained: Top Safety Pick, Top Safety Pick+, and What the Tests Mean

At a glance

The six IIHS crash tests, explained

The IIHS is a nonprofit funded by auto insurers, which gives it an incentive to test for real-world injury and claims patterns rather than just regulatory minimums. Its crash tests go beyond what federal law requires: the small overlap front test simulates hitting a pole or oncoming vehicle with just the corner of your bumper, a scenario that used to be a blind spot in older vehicle designs. The moderate overlap test is the more familiar full-speed frontal crash. Side impact testing was toughened in 2021 to use a heavier, faster barrier that better represents a modern SUV or pickup hitting a sedan — a change that caused ratings to drop across the industry until manufacturers reinforced door structures.

Top Safety Pick vs. Top Safety Pick+

Both awards require a vehicle to earn Good ratings across the core crash tests and at least an Advanced rating for front crash prevention technology. The difference comes down to headlights: Top Safety Pick+ additionally requires that a vehicle's headlights earn a Good or Acceptable rating on every available trim, not just the top-of-the-line version. That single requirement knocks a surprising number of otherwise excellent vehicles down to the base Top Safety Pick tier, because automakers often reserve their best headlight hardware for expensive trims.

What changed with the 2026 award criteria

For the 2026 model year, IIHS raised the bar again, adding stricter requirements around pedestrian-detection performance in automatic emergency braking systems and updating how it scores nighttime pedestrian crash avoidance. Because the criteria became stricter rather than the vehicles getting worse, a number of returning models lost Top Safety Pick or Pick+ status purely on a technicality — a reminder that award lists reset every year and shouldn't be read as a car "failing" a test it never actually retook.

How IIHS differs from NHTSA

IIHS and NHTSA (the federal safety regulator) run separate, non-identical test programs. NHTSA's star ratings come from its own frontal, side, and rollover tests and are required by law for every new vehicle sold; IIHS testing is voluntary and insurer-funded, uses different crash speeds and barrier designs, and doesn't test every vehicle on the market every year. A car can score five stars from NHTSA without ever undergoing an IIHS small overlap test, so the two ratings aren't directly comparable and checking both gives a fuller picture.

How to use IIHS ratings when shopping

Look up the specific trim and model year you're considering on iihs.org rather than assuming every version of a nameplate shares the same rating — safety equipment, structural reinforcement, and even headlight hardware can vary by trim and change between model years. Pay particular attention to the front crash prevention rating if you plan to drive mostly in stop-and-go traffic, since that's where automatic emergency braking earns its keep.