IIHS tests evaluate two aspects of safety: crashworthiness — how well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash — and crash avoidance and mitigation — technology that can prevent a crash or lessen its …

Vehicles that perform best in our evaluations qualify for Top Safety Pick, which has been awarded since the 2006 model year, or Top Safety Pick +, which was inaugurated in 2013. These awards identify …

No jump in crashes due to headlight glare Glare is implicated in just a tiny fraction of nighttime crashes, and that percentage has hardly changed over the past decade, a new IIHS study shows.

In many cases, we conduct these at the IIHS Vehicle Research Center. We purchase the vehicles from dealers just like an ordinary consumer. If the test is being conducted at the manufacturer’s request …

The small overlap front rating is based on a 40 mph crash test in which 25% of the vehicle’s width on one side strikes a rigid barrier. The test is performed on both the driver and passenger sides, and the …

The original side rating is based on a crash test in which an SUV-like barrier strikes the driver side of the vehicle at 31 mph. The updated side rating is based on the same type of crash at 37 mph with a …

Recommended procedures for evaluating occupant injury risk from deploying side airbags July 2003; Prepared by the Side Airbag Out-of-Position Injury Technical Working Group (A joint project of …

Oct 15, 2025 · The information on this page was compiled by Matthew Brumbelow, principal research engineer at IIHS. Matthew’s research into the role of vehicle lighting and road geometry in fatal …

View of the vehicle just after the crash test. View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment. Smeared greasepaint shows …

Passenger-side Tested vehicle: 2023 Toyota Prius LE 4-door Rating applies to 2023-25 models The Toyota Prius and Prius Prime were redesigned for the 2023 model year. Beginning with 2025 …