September 10, 2018—The all-new Nissan Kicks and the Nissan Sentra, two small cars, qualify for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's TOP SAFETY PICK accolade when equipped with particular features, bringing the number of 2018 award winners from the automaker to five, according to IIHS.
To qualify as a 2018 TOP SAFETY PICK, a vehicle must have good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. It also must have an available front crash prevention system that earns a superior or advanced rating and available headlights earning a good or acceptable rating.
The 2018 Kicks has standard, superior-rated front crash prevention. The headlights on the SR trim earn an acceptable rating, while the base headlights are rated poor.
The 2018-19 Sentra's front crash prevention system also earns a superior rating but isn't standard. Like the Kicks, the Sentra has acceptable headlights on some trims and poor-rated ones on others.
The Kicks could have qualified for a higher award, TOP SAFETY PICK+, if its top-rated headlights had been a little better. That award requires a good or acceptable rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test and available good-rated headlights. The Kicks earns an acceptable rating in the passenger-side test.
The Sentra hasn't been rated for passenger-side small overlap protection.
