Today’s Safest New Cars Don’t Include Minivans, According to Crash-Test Organization
What Shoppers Need to Know
- Requirements for Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awards are more rigorous in 2026.
- Not a single minivan has earned an IIHS safety award in 2026.
- More than a dozen vehicles on the list start around $30,000 or less.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released its full list of Top Safety Pick+ and Top Safety Pick award winners so far for 2026. A remarkable 63 vehicles have earned IIHS honors, 15 more than had been recognized at the same time in 2025, but there is one notable absence from the list — or rather, four of them. Not one of the minivans remaining on the market has emerged from the agency’s battery of crash tests and safety evaluations to earn either of the two awards.
Related: IIHS Adds Speeding, Drunk-Driving Detection to Award Criteria
Choices for Families
IIHS president David Harkey said in a statement, “It’s disappointing that minivans continue to struggle to provide the best available protection for passengers in the back considering that these are supposed to be family vehicles.” Harkey suggests that parents looking for the best protection on the road today choose SUVs as an alternative, but few of the three-row SUVs that make the list have interior space comparable to a minivan.
Families with younger children will have no problem fitting into a Hyundai Santa Fe or Kia Sorento, while those needing more space might look to the Mazda CX-90, Nissan Pathfinder or Subaru Ascent. Four family-friendly electric SUVs are also among the Top Safety Pick+ winners: Hyundai Ioniq 9, Kia EV9, Rivian R1S and Volvo EX90. Down one level on the leaderboard, Top Safety Pick mainstream recipients include the Ford Explorer, Nissan Armada and Volkswagen Atlas. Three-row SUVs from luxury brands that earn the Top Safety Pick designation include the Audi Q7, Infiniti QX80 and Volvo XC90.
Choices on a Budget
The news is better for shoppers on a budget who don’t need six or seven seats. More than a dozen vehicles that earned awards for 2026 have base prices around or below $30,000, including Top Safety Pick+ winners the Mazda3 (both hatchback and sedan), the newly redesigned Nissan Sentra and the mid-size Hyundai Sonata.
Also notable is the Plus-winning Toyota Camry, which edges past $30,000 with the destination charge included but also enjoys a spot on our list of the most fuel-efficient vehicles for under $35,000. Top Safety Pick winners for less than $30,000 include the Honda Accord and Civic, the Hyundai Elantra and the most fuel-efficient car on sale today, the Toyota Prius.
Top Safety Pick+ Winners
| Size Category | Model |
| Small Cars | ● Kia K4
● Mazda3 (sedan and hatchback) ● Nissan Sentra |
| Mid-Size Cars | ● Hyundai Sonata
● Toyota Camry |
| Mid-Size Luxury Car | ● Audi A5 |
| Large Luxury Car | ● 2027 Audi A6 Sportback e-Tron
● Genesis G80 (built after June 2025) |
| Small SUVs | ● Genesis GV60
● Kia Sportage (built after May 2025) ● Honda HR-V ● Hyundai Ioniq 5 ● Mazda CX-30 ● Hyundai Kona ● Mazda CX-50 ● Hyundai Tucson ● Subaru Forester |
| Mid-Size SUVs | ● Honda Passport
● Mazda CX-70 PHEV ● Hyundai Ioniq 9 ● Mazda CX-90 ● Hyundai Santa Fe ● Mazda CX-90 PHEV ● Kia EV9 ● Nissan Murano ● Kia Sorento (built after September 2025) ● Nissan Pathfinder ● Mazda CX-70 ● Subaru Ascent ● Subaru Outback |
| Mid-Size Luxury SUVs | ● Audi Q5
● Audi Q5 Sportback ● 2027 Audi Q6 e-Tron ● 2027 Audi Q6 Sportback e-Tron ● BMW X3 ● BMW X5 ● Genesis Electrified GV70 ● Genesis GV70 ● Genesis GV80 ● Infiniti QX60 ● Lexus NX |
| Large SUVs | ● Rivian R1S
● Volvo EX90 |
| Large Pickup Truck | ● Tesla Cybertruck |
Top Safety Pick Winners
| Size Category | Models |
| Small Cars | ● Honda Civic (hatchback)
● Hyundai Elantra ● Toyota Prius |
| Mid-Size Car | ● Honda Accord |
| Mid-Size Luxury Car | ● Mercedes-Benz C-Class |
| Mid-Size SUVs | ● Buick Enclave
● Ford Explorer ● Ford Mustang Mach-E ● Volkswagen Atlas ● Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport |
| Mid-Size Luxury SUVs | ● Lincoln Nautilus
● Mercedes-Benz GLC ● Volvo XC90 ● Volvo XC90 Plug-in Hybrid |
| Large SUVs | ● Audi Q7
● Infiniti QX80 ● Nissan Armada |
| Large Pickup Truck | ● Toyota Tundra crew cab |
Evolving Requirements
The increase in the number of vehicles earning IIHS awards for 2026 is especially promising given the requirements for both awards are stricter this year than they were in 2025. IIHS subjects vehicles to three crash tests (two frontal crashes and a side impact) as well as evaluations of their forward collision avoidance systems for avoiding both pedestrians and other vehicles, and a visibility test for how well their headlights illuminate a dark road. Vehicles are rated on a scale of poor, marginal, acceptable or good.
To be named a Top Safety Pick, vehicles must earn good ratings in all three crash tests (in 2025, acceptable was sufficient in the moderate front overlap test). Acceptable or good headlights must be standard on all trim levels, and the standard forward collision avoidance system must score at least acceptable in the pedestrian avoidance test. The requirement for that technology to be standard is also new for 2026.
The more stringent requirements for Top Safety Pick+ focus on the collision avoidance system. Here, good is necessary in the pedestrian avoidance test, as well as an acceptable or good in the new vehicle-to-vehicle crash prevention test.
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