Safety Roundup: Audi A5, Honda HR-V and Integra net high safety scores

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Each month sees its fair share of new-car safety news, and in case you couldn’t keep on top of it all, we thought we’d go ahead and collect it all into this brief. Check out who’s winning crash-test awards and earning stars.

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After putting vehicles through various safety testing, the independent U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) awards the safest vehicles with one of two awards — Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+, the latter being the highest accolade. To pass, a vehicle needs to earn ‘good’ ratings in six crashworthiness tests that include the driver-side small-overlap front, passenger-side small-overlap front, roof strength, and head restraint tests. The tested vehicle must also be available with a front crash prevention system that need to earn ‘advanced’ or ‘superior’ ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations — IIHS recently released a report claiming many vehicles test poorly in the nighttime pedestrian crash prevention test.

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To earn the coveted Top Safety Pick award, it needs to have one ‘good’ or ‘acceptable’ headlight system available. To earn the top-tier award, the Top Safety Pick+, those ‘good’ or ‘acceptable’ headlight systems need to be standard across all trims. According to recent IIHS information, this is the latest crop of crash-tested new vehicles.

2023 Audi A5 coupe earns Top Safety Pick+ award

Audi now has a whopping 15 models earning the IIHS’ highest honour, the latest being the 2023 A5, which met all requirements. The two available headlight systems earned ‘good’ and ‘acceptable’ ratings, and both the standard and optional front crash prevention systems earn stellar ratings in the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.

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The 2022 model, however, nets a lower-tier Top Safety Pick award when equipped with its equivalent of either of the two headlight systems available on the 2023 version. It doesn’t get the “+” because of a ‘marginal’ rating for the LED reflectors supplied with the Premium trim. Interestingly, Audi eliminated that feature of the headlight system for 2023.

Honda HR-V, Acura Integra earn highest award

A pair of all-new vehicles, the 2023 Honda HR-V and 2023 Acura Integra, have earned IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards. They both come with acceptable-rated headlights on all trims and standard front crash prevention systems that earn ‘superior’ ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.

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More trucks would benefit from an auto-brake feature

A new Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study shows automatic emergency braking (AEB) reduces rear-end crash rates for pickups dramatically. “Pickups account for one out of five passenger vehicles on U.S. roads, and their large size can make them dangerous to people in smaller vehicles or on foot,” said study author Jessica Cicchino, vice president of research at IIHS. “Nevertheless, manufacturers have been slow to equip them with AEB and other crash avoidance systems.”

She examined police-reported crashes from 25 states for 2017 to 2020, and calculated the rate at which pickups rear-ended other vehicles, per registered vehicle year. The rate was 43 per cent lower for pickups equipped with AEB than for those without it. Rear-end injury crash rates were 42 per cent lower.

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Small trucks are doing much better, from the sounds of it, as most 2022 small pickups pass the new IIHS crash tests. Come on, full-size truck makers — take your foot off the brake and make AEB standard.

Hopefully you read our article earlier this month on how smaller cars are doing better, though not the best, in an upgraded IIHS test, regardless of the fact consumers are still generally buying SUVs over these smaller options. Safety is a key component of vehicle research, so check back often and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news and updates.