Winners of Top Safety Picks by IIHS safeguard rear seat passengers in the year 2025
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has announced significant updates to its Top Safety Pick (TSP) and Top Safety Pick+ (TSP+) awards for the 2025 model year. These changes focus on enhancing the evaluation and protection of rear-seat occupants, reflecting the organisation's commitment to replicating real-world crash conditions more accurately.
Updated Moderate Overlap Front Crash Test
The updated Moderate Overlap Front Crash Test now includes a second crash test dummy seated behind the driver. This test is crucial in assessing the safety of rear-seat passengers. For a vehicle to qualify for the TSP award, it must achieve at least an acceptable rating on this updated test. To earn the TSP+, a good rating is required. The previous version of the test has been fully phased out.
Stricter Safety Requirements
The IIHS has raised the bar for rear-seat protection, mandating advanced seat belt technologies and safety innovations that better protect second-row occupants during frontal crashes.
Tougher Overall Crash and Safety Evaluations
Beyond rear-seat protection, vehicles must also perform well in side crash tests, small overlap front tests on both driver and passenger sides, pedestrian crash prevention, and headlight performance to qualify for these awards.
Reduced Number of Award Winners
Due to these tougher standards, only 48 models qualified for TSP or TSP+ in 2025, compared to 71 models the previous year. This demonstrates the increased rigour of the testing and the emphasis on rear-seat occupant safety.
Winners' List and Notable Absences
The winners range from small cars to large pickups and luxury vehicles, mainly SUVs. Notably, minivans and many pickups, often used for family transport, have been largely absent from the winners’ list. The Toyota Tundra crew cab is the only large pickup to have won in 2025. Minivans are notably absent from the list of winners for 2025.
Progress in Rear-Seat Protection
In the tested 2025 models, nearly 60% have achieved acceptable or good ratings in the revised moderate overlap front crash test, demonstrating progress in rear-seat protection.
In summary, the 2025 IIHS Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards now emphasize advanced protection for rear-seat passengers through an updated crash test with a rear-seat dummy, higher rating requirements, and comprehensive crashworthiness and avoidance standards, leading to improved rear-seat safety but fewer vehicles qualifying.
Science plays a crucial role in improving health-and-wellness by creating advanced seat belt technologies and safety innovations, as demonstrated in the IIHS's enhanced evaluation of vehicle safety, particularly focusing on the protection of rear-seat occupants. Fitness-and-exercise are also indirectly promoted through the increased priority on rear-seat protection, as a safer transportation system encourages families to participate in activities outside their homes.
