The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) awards Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ to vehicles that earn good ratings across its crash tests, good- or acceptable-rated headlights, and standard front automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection that performs well in testing. Pick+ requires the higher headlight standard (good, not just acceptable) plus stronger AEB performance across more test speeds. Because IIHS periodically raises these bars, a model that earned the award one year can lose it the next without the car itself changing — the goalposts moved.
At a glance
| Award | Core requirements |
|---|---|
| Top Safety Pick | Good ratings on crash tests + acceptable/good headlights + standard AEB w/ pedestrian detection |
| Top Safety Pick+ | All TSP requirements + good-rated headlights + stronger AEB performance |
| Neither | Falls short on any one crash test, headlight rating, or AEB performance criterion |
What IIHS actually tests
IIHS is funded by the auto insurance industry, not a government body, which lets it move faster and set stricter voluntary benchmarks than federal regulation typically does. Its crash-test battery includes moderate overlap front, small overlap front (both driver and passenger side), side impact, roof strength, and head restraint/seat evaluation — each rated poor to good. On top of these structural tests, it separately evaluates headlight performance and front crash-prevention (AEB) system effectiveness at multiple speeds and in both daylight and low-light pedestrian scenarios.
Why the bar keeps rising
IIHS has a track record of adding new test elements once most vehicles start passing the existing ones — the logic being that a rating system only pushes the industry forward if it stays ahead of the pack. Recent additions have included tightened headlight-rating requirements (many vehicles historically lost points here despite strong crash-test performance) and mandatory pedestrian-detection AEB testing across a wider speed range, plus a moderate-overlap rear-seat evaluation to check whether back-seat passengers, often children, are as well protected as those in front.
Pick vs. Pick+: the practical difference
- Top Safety Pick requires acceptable-or-better headlights across the trim's available configurations.
- Top Safety Pick+ requires good-rated headlights specifically, plus superior AEB performance at higher test speeds.
- Headlights are evaluated per configuration — a car offered with multiple headlight options may qualify for Pick+ only with the higher trim's lighting hardware.
IIHS awards are typically tied to a specific trim and model year. Don't assume every trim of an awarded model — or the following model year — automatically carries the same rating; headlight hardware and AEB tuning can vary by trim.
How this compares to NHTSA's federal 5-star system
NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program is the US government's parallel rating system and uses different tests and a different scale (up to 5 stars). The two systems aren't directly comparable star-for-star, but many shoppers look at both since IIHS tends to test more aggressively on newer risk areas (headlights, pedestrian AEB) while NHTSA's ratings are more standardized across the full new-car market.
What this means for buyers
Treat a Top Safety Pick/Pick+ badge as a strong but time-stamped signal — check the specific model year and trim the award applies to, since IIHS doesn't guarantee a rating carries forward automatically when it updates criteria or when a manufacturer changes a headlight supplier or AEB calibration between model years.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between IIHS Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+?
Is IIHS a government agency?
Can a car lose its Top Safety Pick rating without changing?
Does every trim of an awarded car get the same rating?
Sources & further reading
- IIHS-HLDI — Vehicle safety ratings & research
- IIHS — Top Safety Pick criteria
- NHTSA — Safety ratings, recalls & research
Figures, prices and policy details were current at the last-updated date above. Automotive pricing, incentives and regulations change frequently — verify time-sensitive details with the linked primary sources. Read our editorial policy and fact-checking standards.
