Six More Vehicles Earn Top Safety Pick+ Award
Six models from four different brands earned 2025 Top Safety Pick+ awards in the latest batch of vehicle ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The Hyundai Elantra, Kia K4 and Toyota Prius are all small cars. The Hyundai Sonata is a midsize car, the Toyota bZ4X is an electric small SUV, and the Nissan Murano is a midsize SUV. All are 2025 models.
For several vehicles, the award applies only to models built after a certain date, when their manufacturers made modifications to improve rear occupant protection. The award applies to Elantras built after October 2024, Sonatas built after November 2024 and K4s built after January 2025.
The bZ4X award is for vehicles built after December 2024, when the headlights on its XLE trim were changed to the current good-rated ones. Earlier XLE headlights earned a marginal rating, while the Limited trim always had good headlights.
To qualify for either award in 2025, vehicles need good ratings in the small overlap front and updated side tests, an acceptable or good rating in the pedestrian front crash prevention evaluation and acceptable- or good-rated headlights across all trim levels.
An acceptable rating in the updated moderate overlap front test is enough to qualify for Top Safety Pick, but a good rating is required for the “plus.”
Three additional IIHS evaluations, vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention, seat belt reminders, and LATCH ease of use, are not part of the award criteria but are included in the evaluation table. Consumers might wish to factor them into their purchase decisions.
New ratings are also available for the Ford Bronco, Ford Bronco Sport and Volkswagen Taos, but these models did not earn awards due to inadequate performance in one or more of the required tests.
The Bronco was disqualified from contention because of marginal ratings for its headlights, pedestrian front crash prevention system and moderate overlap in crash performance. In the moderate overlap test, measurements taken from the rear dummy indicated an elevated risk of chest injuries, though the Bronco performed well by most other metrics.
The Bronco Sport fell short because the rear dummy’s lap belt slid up onto the abdomen from the ideal position on the pelvis, which increases the chances of internal injuries. Measurements taken from the rear dummy also indicated an elevated risk of injuries to the chest and head or neck.
Like earlier versions of the vehicle, the 2025 Taos earns only an acceptable rating in the small overlap front test, as the safety cage designed to protect occupants did not hold up well. The new model also fell short in the updated moderate overlap front test and earned subpar ratings for its headlights and pedestrian crash avoidance system. Although Volkswagen added pretensioners and load limiters to the rear seat belts in the Taos in January 2025, chest injury metrics for the rear passenger remained high in the moderate overlap test.
For more information about vehicle ratings, visit the IIHS website here.
