Vehicles with the Best Crash Test Ratings—2024 Edition

If you had to pick the single most important thing about a car, what would it be? A
lot of people would say money-oriented things like price or fuel economy, while others might say interior space,
and others may even say technology or style.

In our opinion though, the most important aspect of vehicle design is safety. After
all, what good is a ton of cargo room or the best infotainment system if it can’t protect your most precious
cargo in an accident?

As the foremost experts on collision repair in Kansas City, we’ve seen a lot of cars that have
been in wrecks. So, we figured we’d list some of the safest cars, trucks, and SUVs on the road today, and to
back it up, we’ve included expert safety scores from the IIHS.

IIHS Awards: How Do They Work?

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety has been handing out its Top
Safety Pick awards for nearly two decades. The award is based on tests conducted to determine
crashworthiness and crash avoidance and mitigation. Cars are put through the crash tests
and then assigned one of four ratings based on performance (Good, Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor).

For 2024, the Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards are based on five categories:

• Small overlap front
• Moderate overlap front
• Side
• Headlights
• Pedestrian front crash prevention

Now that we all know how it all works, let’s check out some of the winners.

Cars with the Best Crash Test Ratings

Generally speaking, smaller vehicles are considered less safe in a crash
than larger ones because of their lighter weight and less rigid body construction. But even though a car is
smaller than other vehicles on the road, there are still plenty who took home impressive ratings.

2024 Toyota Prius

The Prius doesn’t exactly have a reputation for being a tank, so it may come as a surprise
that it earned the highest distinction of Top Safety Pick+. It received a Good rating on the small overlap,
moderate overlap, and side crash tests (although the updated moderate overlap test was amended to an Acceptable
rating). It also got a Good rating for frontal crash prevention thanks to the standard Toyota Safety Sense 3.0
package. To top it off, it won a Good+ rating for its rear child seat anchors, making it among the safest cars
for people with kids in car seats.

2024 Honda Accord

Honda’s bestselling sedan has been scooping up safety awards for decades, which may be part of
the reason why it’s one of the most popular cars in the world. It dominated the IIHS’s crash testing, earning a
Good ranking in every category, as well as a Good rating for its factory headlights, which provide solid
visibility in all conditions.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6

If you’re worried about electric cars being unsafe compared to their gas-powered counterparts,
you can put those worries to bed, because the IONIQ 6—along with its big brother the IONIQ 5—won the Top Safety
Pick+, making them some of the safest EVs on the market. The IONIQ 6 performed especially well in the pedestrian
frontal crash prevention test thanks to its robust driver assistance features and high beam assist.

SUVs with the Best Crash Test Ratings

These vehicles tend to be somewhere between petite cars and large trucks on the overall
crashworthiness scale, but their size makes them drivable for almost anyone, meaning these tend to be some of
the safest vehicles for families and young drivers.

2024 Honda HR-V

The plucky Honda crossover earned some of the most impressive crash test scores on this whole
list, with a Good rating on nearly every metric in the small overlap, moderate overlap, and side collision
categories. It also got a Good rating for front prevention thanks to the Collision Mitigation Braking system,
which is standard across all trims.

2024 Nissan Pathfinder

If you’re going to cram eight people into an SUV, you’ve got to take extra special care to
design the safest ride possible, and the Pathfinder delivers handsomely. Standard auto E-braking with pedestrian
detection gives it ample stopping distance for crash prevention, and the child seat anchor options are ample,
with two in the second row and one in the third row, which netted it a Good+ rating in that category.

2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee

After a few years with no accolades, it’s nice to see the Grand Cherokee back on top following
its recent redesign. Despite a less-than-ideal updated moderate overlap test, its structure and safety cage held
firm, and it grabbed a Good rating in all other crash categories.

2024 Subaru Ascent

With four different LATCH positions, the Ascent may just be the most kid-friendly SUV on the
road—or, at least in this article. It also got a perfect score on the small overlap test, a near-perfect score
on the moderate overlap and side tests, and a Good rating for its headlights and standard EyeSight crash
prevention technology.

Trucks and Minivans with the Best Crash Test Ratings

As the biggest automobiles on the street, these tend to be the hardiest in a major collision,
which makes them the overall safest for drivers and passengers, broadly speaking.

2024 Toyota Sienna

Safety is crucial in all vehicles, but it’s perhaps especially important in minivans because
the vast majority of owners regularly have kids on board. Good thing the Sienna received such strong marks for
its small overlap and side tests, and also won a Good rating for its headlights and high beams. It also won a
Good+ rating for its LATCH system placement, which offers six total available places to hook up a car seat.

2024 Hyundai Santa Cruz

Hyundai’s funky fresh pickup carries the distinction of being the only small truck on the
market to grab a Top Safety Pick award this year. It got a Good rating on the small overlap, moderate overlap,
and side crash tests, and also got a super strong headlight rating.

2024 Toyota Tundra

The Tundra won not one but two Top Safety Picks—one for the crew cab, and one for the extended
cab. Both body styles got Good ratings in all of their crashworthiness tests, and nearly all trims got a Good
rating for their headlights. The Tundra is also the only non-electric large pickup to win the award in 2024.

Stay Safe, Kansas City!

Picking the safest car possible is important, but no matter how good the safety ratings on
your vehicle are, accidents happen. If you’ve been in a crash and need auto repairs in Kansas City, we have
multiple locations all around the city, and we also offer free estimates. Stop by one of our
convenient locations and let us do the rest.