The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced today that two Toyota models — the 2019 Prius hybrid and the Prius Prime plug-in hybrid — qualified for the institute's second-highest award, Top Safety Pick. Notably, both vehicles received the award with only standard equipment, unlike other models that only qualify with optional safety systems. Like many other vehicles, however, the Prius and Prius Prime missed out on the higher Top Safety Pick Plus award because of their headlight ratings.
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How Does the IIHS Rating System Work?
To qualify for a Top Safety Pick award, a vehicle undergoes a series of crashworthiness tests: the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, and head restraint and seat tests. A score of good — on a scale of poor, marginal, acceptable or good — is required for all but the passenger-side small overlap front, where acceptable is allowed.
Headlights are tested on the same rating scale and must be rated good or acceptable. Crash-avoidance and -mitigation systems, if available, are rated basic, advanced or superior. To qualify for a Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must have one rated at advanced or superior. Both headlight and crash-avoidance systems can be optional and available on only certain trims for a vehicle to receive an award.
The higher Top Safety Pick Plus designation requires scores of good in all crashworthiness tests and in headlight testing.
How Did These Cars Perform?
In the case of both the Prius and Prius Prime, crashworthiness evaluations were all scored good except the passenger-side small overlap front, where both were rated acceptable. Headlight testing yielded an acceptable rating for all available headlights, and the standard crash avoidance system was rated as superior. To qualify for the Top Safety Pick Plus award, both vehicles would have needed a good score on the passenger-side small overlap front and headlight tests.
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What About the Competition?
Many competitors in the IIHS' small-car class are Top Safety Pick Plus winners, including the 2019 Honda Insight and 2019 Kia Niro Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid, though the Kias require optional equipment. The 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid are both Top Safety Picks with optional equipment.
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