Vehicle safety ratings are among the most important factors in consumers' decision whether or not to purchase a specific make and model of vehicle. Because a vehicle purchase is a significant and infrequent investment, consumers need to be sure that their vehicle choice will protect them and their passengers effectively through hundreds of thousands of miles of driving over the years.

While there are several notable organizations that assess vehicle safety, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are among the most trusted for their consistency and testing methodologies. The IIHS purchases current-year vehicles from manufacturers and tests them for crashworthiness and crash avoidance, then publishes their results annually.

While "crashworthiness" refers to the way in which each vehicle manages different common collision scenarios, "crash avoidance" ratings are relatively new and put onboard driver assistance systems through their paces to include ratings on how well a vehicle helps drivers avoid collisions.

WHICH VEHICLES ARE SAFEST?
Heavier, sturdier vehicles have historically performed better in crashworthiness tests as they are better able to protect occupants from the effects of dangerous impacts. A matter of simple physics, heavier and denser vehicles will transfer energy into smaller vehicles during a crash. This is good news for drivers of larger vehicles and not such good news for smaller rides like motorcycles and sports cars.

This comes at a cost, however. Heavier vehicles, like lifted pickups for example, could be more susceptible to rollovers and they may be far less maneuverable when it comes to crash avoidance. So, while you may fare better in an accident inside a larger vehicle, you may have a better chance of avoiding the accident altogether in a smaller vehicle that can quickly move to avoid a collision.

HOW ARE VEHICLES TESTED AND RATED?
Currently, the IIHS evaluates crashworthiness across two categories of tests, Frontal Crash Tests and Side Crash Tests. For frontal tests, vehicles are accelerated into a barrier in either a "moderate overlap" or "small overlap" test. In overlap tests, only a portion of the front of the vehicle contacts the barrier. Tests are performed on both the driver-side and passenger-side of each vehicle.

Side Crash Tests accelerate a moving barrier into the driver-side and passenger-side of vehicles to determine their rating. The IIHS has taken the initiative to adapt their barrier, making it taller in order to account for the increased number of taller SUVs and trucks on the road.

Cars are also evaluated for a range of vehicle safety features including a Headlight Evaluation, Front Crash Prevention, and starting in 2022, Seat Belt Reminder Evaluation. Seat Belt Reminder tests evaluate a vehicle on its alarms, reminders, and alarm triggers telling occupants to buckle up. Seat belt systems are rated either good, acceptable, marginal, or poor.

NEW TECHNOLOGY CONTINUES TO MAKE VEHICLES SAFER
Physical safety features like airbags, antilock brakes, and daytime running lights have been introduced gradually over the last 20-30 years have provided additional vehicle safety features to keep us safe during a crash or help us avoid them altogether. But over the last decade, we have witnessed a virtual explosion of technology, innovation, and electronics in vehicles working to keep us safe in new and inventive ways. In many cases, manufacturers have empowered our vehicles to keep us safer behind the wheel. Think things like blind spot monitors, lane keeping assistance, automatic emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control, just to name a few.

As these technologies continue to develop and new innovations, like back up cameras, become standardized, vehicle safety ratings organizations will need to follow suit and evolve their testing methods and criteria as makes and models become more complex.

WHAT ARE THE SAFEST VEHICLES OF 2024?
In the chart below, we will examine some of the safest vehicles rated by the IIHS and NHTSA for 2024. While this table is intended as a quick overview of the safest vehicles evaluated by both organizations, it's not a comprehensive list. Automakers release dozens of different models and packages for those models annually and it would be impossible to run detailed tests on each one. Each organization also has its own methodologies for testing and rating vehicles in each class, so if you're considering purchasing one of these vehicles, we encourage you to dig into the evaluation details on the IIHS and NHTSA websites.

*IIHS plus ratings are awarded to vehicles that receive superior ratings in an updated moderate overlap crash test.