Top Vehicle Safety Picks for 2025 Will Be Required To Have Better Back Seat Protections: IIHS

New criteria aim to improve safety for back seat passengers, a standard that many family-marketed minivans currently fail to meet.

As federal and independent roadway safety organizations continue to improve vehicle crash standards, a new requirement is being implemented by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) to better protect back seat passengers.

Each year, the IIHS recognizes the safest vehicles for crash avoidance and overall safety by awarding either the TOP SAFETY PICK or the more stringent TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards, based on rigorous evaluation criteria.

However, in a press release issued on March 13, the IIHS announced that for the 2025 top safety awards, it will require enhanced protection for rear passengers, urging automakers to adopt advanced seat belt technology and other safety innovations for the back seat.

The original top safety award criteria simulate a head-on collision where a vehicle impacts another of equal size and weight at 40 mph, with 40% of their front widths overlapping.

The new criteria will now include an additional dummy in the seat behind the driver to test back seat safety, and focus on new metrics addressing the injuries most frequently seen in rear-seat occupants.

Previously, an acceptable or good rating in the updated IIHS safety test was required for the TOP SAFETY PICK+ award.

This year, vehicles must earn at least an acceptable rating in the back seat test to qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK, while a good rating is required for the higher ranked TOP SAFETY PICK+

To qualify for either award, vehicles must also have acceptable headlights and achieve good ratings in the small overlap front, updated side tests, and pedestrian front crash prevention evaluation.

Only 48 vehicle models currently qualify for the 2025 awards based on the new criteria, a decrease from 71 models last year. Of the 2025 winners, 36 earned the TOP SAFETY PICK+ award, while 12 received the TOP SAFETY PICK.

Of these, SUVs make up the majority of the awards, with 28 receiving TOP SAFETY PICK+ and eight earning TOP SAFETY PICK. Notably, no minicars, large cars, minivans or small pickups were included in the list.

The selected models come from a variety of automakers, including Honda, Mazda, Hyundai, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Genesis, Subaru, Ford, Kia, Nissan, BMW, Lincoln, Volvo, Audi, Infiniti, Rivian, Acura, Chevrolet and Lexus.

To perform well in the original test, automakers strengthened vehicle structures and improved airbags and seatbelts. However, many of these advancements applied only to the front seat and increased the risk of fatal injury for belted passengers in the back seat.

The updated test is intended to push manufacturers to address this gap.

“These results show that manufacturers are working hard to make their vehicles as safe for back seat passengers as they are for those up front,” IIHS President, David Harkey, said. “Consumers looking for a new vehicle offering the highest level of protection for their families should put these award winners at the top of their list.”