Six Hondas are among the 64 vehicles the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) has singled out for safety in its 2020 crash evaluations. The IIHS tests new vehicles every year and designates the safest as “Top Safety Pick” and “Top Safety Pick+.” Over the years, as Honda and other manufacturers have developed new safety technology, the IIHS has added new tests and made the criteria for qualifying in these top categories tougher.

The Honda Insight earned the top designation of 2020 Top Safety Pick+. The criteria include:

• “Good” ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests

• “Advanced” or “Superior” rating for available front crash prevention — vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations

• “Acceptable” or “Good” headlights as standard equipment

The Civic Coupe, Sedan and Hatchback (except Type R), Accord and CR-V all received a Top Safety Pick designation. The criteria include all the above except for available “Acceptable or “Good” headlights.

Vehicle & Pedestrian Protection

The most-recently added test is the small overlap evaluation – first the driver-side test and now also the passenger-side test – which show how well vehicles protect their occupants when they run into just the corner of the vehicle, for example by running into a tree or utility pole.

Front crash prevention has become more important, both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian. Honda has been working on incorporating this technology for almost a decade. The latest data shows that there’s been a 53 percent increase in pedestrian fatalities since 2009. In 2018 more than 6,000 pedestrians were killed in vehicle accidents. Automakers have been working toward a voluntary commitment to install automatic emergency braking (AEB), which will become standard for most vehicles by 2022. But the commitment only calls for AEB to avoid crashes with other vehicles.

Honda has been a Colorado favorite for decades. Its great performance as well as the stylishness, comfort and efficiency Honda is known for across its lineup have made it very popular in Colorado. It’s hard to argue with safety as an important selling point, too, which is why Honda Sensing® has been added to most of its models at all levels. A Schomp Honda client advisor can highlight the important safety features for you as well as showing off all of the other things that make Honda vehicles a great choice for Colorado drivers.