The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the people who REALLY know how safe cars are (they pay when they aren’t,) announced America’s safest cars for 2014 today. 22 received the IIHS’s highest accolade, Top Safety Pick+. An additional 17 earned Top Safety Pick, IIHS’s second class for safety.
The safest crash is the one that doesn’t happen. Top Safety Pick+ demands a high level of protection in crashes and the availability of front crash prevention technology to avoid many collisions in the first place. Second class leaders must meet the crash-worthiness criteria alone.
1st Class | 2nd Class | |||||
2014 IIHS Top Safety Pick+ | 2014 IIHS Top Safety Pick | |||||
Honda Civic 4-door | Small cars | |||||
Mazda 3 | Dodge Dart | |||||
Toyota Prius | Ford Focus | |||||
Midsize moderately priced cars | Honda Civic 2-door | |||||
Ford Fusion | Hyundai Elantra | |||||
Honda Accord 2-door | Scion tC | |||||
Honda Accord 4-door | Subaru Impreza | |||||
Mazda 6 | Subaru XV Crosstrek | |||||
Subaru Legacy | Midsize moderately priced cars | |||||
Subaru Outback | Chrysler 200 4-door | |||||
Midsize luxury/near-luxury cars | Dodge Avenger | |||||
Infiniti Q50 | Kia Optima | |||||
Lincoln MKZ | Nissan Altima | |||||
Volvo S60 | Toyota Camry | |||||
Large luxury cars | Volkswagen Passat | |||||
Acura RL | Midsize luxury/near-luxury car | |||||
Volvo S80 | Acura TL | |||||
Small SUVs | Small SUV | |||||
Mazda CX-5 | Mitsubushi Outlander Sport | |||||
Mitsubishi Outlander | Midsize luxury SUV | |||||
Subaru Forester | Volvo XC90 | |||||
Midsize SUV | ||||||
Toyota Highlander | ||||||
Midsize luxury SUVs | ||||||
Acura MDX | ||||||
Mercedes-Benz M-Class | ||||||
Volvo XC60 | ||||||
Minivan | ||||||
Honda Odyssey | ||||||
Minicar | ||||||
Chevrolet Spark | ||||||
Note: Except for the Volvo S60, S80 and XC60 and the hybrid version of the Honda Civic 4-door, vehicles listed under Top Safety Pick+ qualify for that award only when equipped with optional front crash prevention. Front crash prevention isn’t available on nonhybrid versions of the Civic. |
As you can see, American cars are a minority on this list. 52 out of a total of 62 chosen cars are offered by foreign brands. Among the safest of the safe cars, the situation is even more pronounced: 20 out of 23 cars that made Top Safety Pick+ carry foreign badges.