IIHS Awards 38 Cars Top Awards, With Headlights as Drawback

Cars and Drivers

Published: December 9, 2016 9:05 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 4:57 pm

Good headlights are a bit hard to come by, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Only 38 of the car models measured for its 2017 awards received its Top Safety Pick+. The modest problem that hurt many cars was headlights. Another 44 earned the mediocre Top Safety Pick.

The organization said of its new benchmarks:

IIHS toughened the criteria for TOP SAFETY PICK+ to reflect new headlight evaluations launched in 2016. The recognition program is meant to encourage manufacturers to offer state-of-the-art protection for people in crashes, along with features that help drivers avoid crashes in the first place. In addition to good or acceptable headlights, the latter includes automatic braking technology, which has been part of the criteria since 2015.

The basis for the decision:

In the Institute’s evaluations, engineers measure how far light is projected from a vehicle’s low beams and high beams as the vehicle travels straight and on curves. Glare from low beams for oncoming drivers also is measured. Vehicles equipped with high-beam assist, which automatically switches between high beams and low beams depending on the presence of other vehicles, can get extra credit.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC), General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) had 2017 models that made the cut:

Among 2017 models, only seven are available with good-rated headlights. They are the Chevrolet Volt small car, Honda Ridgeline pickup, Hyundai Elantra small car, Hyundai Santa Fe midsize SUV, Subaru Legacy midsize car, Toyota Prius v midsize car and Volvo XC60 midsize luxury SUV.

All 2017 models that made the cut for Top Safety Pick+ based on the total of all safety measures (which include headlights):

Small Cars

Chevrolet Volt
Hyundai Elantra, sedan only; built after March 2016
Mazda 3, 4-door sedan | 4-door hatchback
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Prius, built after August 2016

Midsize Cars

Midsize Luxury Cars

Large Luxury Cars

Small SUVs

Mazda CX-3
Mitsubishi Outlander
Nissan Rogue
Subaru Forester, built after October 2016
Toyota RAV4

Midsize SUVs

Honda Pilot
Hyundai Santa Fe, built after March 2016

Midsize Luxury SUVs

Minivan

Chrysler Pacifica, built after August 2016

Large Pickup

Honda Ridgeline

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