The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is pushing automakers to improve their crash avoidance systems and demanding superior protection for back seat passengers in the 2026 award season.
Even with tougher rules, 63 vehicles qualified for IIHS awards so far. That is up from 48 at the same point last year. Of the winners, 45 earn a TOP SAFETY PICK+ and 18 earn a TOP SAFETY PICK.
“This year, we’re asking automakers to make excellent protection for back seat passengers the norm,” IIHS President David Harkey said. “For TOP SAFETY PICK+, we’re requiring crash avoidance systems that are better at preventing pedestrian crashes as well as higher speed crashes with other vehicles.”
This year’s winners include a variety of models, ranging from small cars to large pickups and from economy cars to luxury vehicles. The manufacturer suggested retail prices for more than a dozen TOP SAFETY PICK+ winners start under $30,000.
The biggest change in the award criteria is the addition of the new vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention test.
“Improving crash avoidance is key to achieving our 30×30 vision of reducing US crash deaths by 30% by 2030,” Harkey added. “Stronger structures and better seat belts save lives, but the safest crash is the one that never happens.”
More details about how the vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention evaluation and other required tests are conducted can be found in the “About our tests” section of the IIHS website.
