2020 Toyota Highlander Extends Crash Safety Rating Streak
The Toyota Highlander has been an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick for several years in a row, and a redesign of the popular three-row SUV hasn’t broken the Highlander’s hot streak. The 2020 model also qualifies for the agency’s second-highest award.
Related: Here’s Every Car That Earned a Top Safety Award for 2020
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Shop the 2020 Toyota Highlander near you
The 2020 Highlander earned good scores in all of the agency’s crash tests: the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, and head restraints and seats evaluations. Its standard front crash prevention system also earned a superior rating for vehicle-to-vehicle crash prevention and pedestrian front crash prevention. The latter is a new component of IIHS’ safety ratings system.
In crash tests, IIHS said, that the Highlander avoided a collision in vehicle-to-vehicle tests at 12 mph and 25 mph, and avoided or significantly mitigated the severity of a crash in all pedestrian scenarios.
As for headlight ratings, the SUV’s scores are mixed. The model’s base headlights received a poor rating; IIHS said the static LED reflector units rated poor because of deficiencies in visibility and excessive glare. The LED projector headlights that come on Limited and Hybrid Limited trims earned an acceptable rating. Lastly, the Highlander’s available curve-adaptive LED projector headlights earned the highest rating of good.
In order to earn IIHS’ highest safety honor, Top Safety Pick Plus, all of a vehicle’s headlight options need to earn an acceptable or good rating — a new qualification for 2020. Many automakers are having trouble clearing this new bar. One of the Highlander’s new competitors, the 2020 Hyundai Palisade, also fell short due to headlight ratings and earned the Top Safety Pick award. The same goes for the related 2020 Kia Telluride.
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