Toyota and Honda lead IIHS safety ratings in US

Japanese automakers Toyota and Honda lead in the United States with the most Top Safety Pick + ratings awarded by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) together with the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).

As of Monday (28 August), these automakers had the most car models receiving this top rating, being Toyota and its luxury brand Lexus with nine and Honda and its luxury brand Acura with eight.

Making the list are: Toyota Camry, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Sienna, Toyota Tundra Crew cab, Toyota Tundra Extended cab, Lexus UX, Lexus NX, Lexus NX PHEV, and Lexus RX.

Also receiving top ratings are: Honda Accord, Honda CR-V, Honda HR-V, Honda Pilot, Honda Odyssey, Acura Integra, Acura MDX, and Acura RDX.

Other automakers receiving one or more Top Safety Pick + ratings are: Audi, Genesis, Infiniti, Jeep, Kia, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, and Volvo.

To receive a Top Safety Pick + rating, a vehicle must have Good ratings in the driver and  passenger side small overlap front tests, original moderate overlap front test, and the updated side test, as well as an Acceptable or Good rating for headlights standard.

It must also achieve Advanced or Superior rating for daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention, and nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention.

Photo: IIHS crash test vehicles (courtesy of IIHS)