The 2022 Honda Civic just earned the IIHS' highest crash-testing accolade
Volkswagen's ID.4, Mitsubishi's Outlander, and a LEGO car also received the Top Safety Pick+ award
The U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is continuing to add vehicles to its list crash-test best-ers for 2021. Throughout the month of September, thus far, IIHS has honoured several vehicles with its Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards.
The coveted titles are given to qualifiers that meet six IIHS “crashworthiness evaluations” and come with a standard front crash prevention system. In order to gain the higher of the two awards (the +), the vehicle must have “good” or “acceptable” headlights as standard, across all trim levels of the model.
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This month, several vehicles — including many 2022 models — have been put to the test, with several coming out with one of those awards.
2022 Honda Civic – Top Safety Pick+
2021 Volkswagen ID.4 – Top Safety Pick+
The ID.4, VW’s all-electric midsize SUV, earned the highest achievement from the IIHS, meeting all the requirements in its first year available. It comes with standard LED reflector headlights that earned an acceptable rating, while the optional curve-adaptive LED projectors earned a good rating. If you’re interested in how some of the crashworthiness tests are performed, check out the video below.
2021-2022 Buick Encore GX – Top Safety Pick
Missing out on the +, the Encore’s standard front crash prevention system earned superior ratings, while the LED projector headlights on the Essence trim were rated acceptable. However, the halogen reflectors offered with the other two trims prevented it from earning the top-tier award.
2021-2022 Chevrolet Trailblazer – Top Safety Pick+
Both available headlight systems for the Trailblazer earned acceptable and good ratings, giving it the highest award possible from IIHS. Vehicles built after July 2020 also received a superior rating in the vehicle-to-vehicle test and an advanced rating in the vehicle-to-pedestrian test.
2022 Mitsubishi Outlander – Top Safety Pick+
With improved headlights across all trims, the 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander has also achieved the highest award. Those built after June 2021 came fitted with headlights that reduced glare, earning a good rating, in contrast to the ones that previously gave them a poor rating. IIHS claims Outlander owners with models produced before June 2021 have the option of a no-cost adjustment to the aiming of the vehicle’s headlights.
2022 Hyundai Santa Fe – Top Safety Pick+
The midsize SUV improved its available headlight offering, thus earning the highest award. The previous model year narrowly missed out on the top award because not all of the trims earned good or acceptable ratings for the headlight systems, but nevertheless, it stilled earned the Top Safety Pick, minus the +. The 2022 Santa Fe, built after July 2021, also earned superior ratings in the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.