Honda Earns Six IIHS Top Safety Picks

March 01 2021, Centennial Honda

Honda Earns Six IIHS Top Safety Picks

Last week, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) revealed that they put various Honda models through their rigorous safety testing process. The IIHS is one of the (if not THE) most prominent organizations when it comes to motor vehicle safety, and are well-known for their comprehensive testing methods. Their thorough safety examinations include testing a vehicle’s “crashworthiness,” available safety features, crash avoidance and mitigation, among other factors. 


All fully tested Honda vehicles have earned top U.S. government crash-test ratings, but six models in particular stood  out to the IIHS. Three Honda vehicles have been given their ‘Top Safety Pick’ status, while another three were bestowed with top IIHS honours, and given the coveted ‘Top Safety Pick+’ title. 


For a vehicle to earn the ‘Top Safety Pick’ badge, it must receive a ‘GOOD’ crashworthiness rating in all test modes, including the challenging passenger-side small overlap test. In addition, the vehicle in question must also offer front crash prevention that gets an ‘ADVANCED’ or ‘SUPERIOR’ rating in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian testing, along with a ‘GOOD’ or ‘ACCEPTABLE’ rating for available headlights. 


To take things to the next level and score the ‘Top Safety Pick+’ rating, a vehicle must fulfill the same requirements as a ‘Top Safety Pick’ model, with the key difference coming down to the standard headlights. These headlights must receive a ‘GOOD’ or ‘ACCEPTABLE’ rating.


Now that we’ve broken down the IIHS’ testing and rating methods, let’s take a look at which Honda vehicles earned which titles from the IIHS!


Top Safety Pick 

On February 24th, the IIHS announced that the 2021 Honda CR-V, Honda Civic Sedan, and Honda Civic Hatchback have all earned ‘Top Safety Pick’ status. The CR-V did particularly well, receiving the highest possible rating of ‘GOOD’ in all six crashworthiness tests conducted.


Top Safety Pick+

In addition to the ‘Top Safety Pick’ ratings, the 2021 Honda Insight, Honda Accord, and Honda Odyssey have been recognized as ‘Top Safety Pick+’ models. Both the Honda Insight and Odyssey models received top ratings in all six crashworthiness tests, while the Honda Accord tested similarly well.


The IIHS was especially impressed with the Honda Sensing® Collision Mitigation Braking System™, giving it a ‘SUPERIOR’ rating for frontal crash prevention, along with Honda’s Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body structure, designed to protect occupants in a wide variety of frontal collisions. These safety systems come standard in all new Honda models, so you can rest assured that you and your family have the best protection available while you run the roads.



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