Safest New Cars of 2025, According to the IIHS

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety first started releasing crash-test ratings in 1995 and introduced the TSP rating in 2006. To get a TSP rating in 2025, vehicles must earn:

• A rating of Acceptable in the updated moderate overlap front crash test, which mimics what happens if a vehicle crosses a center line and 40 percent of its front end hits a similarly sized oncoming car at 40 mph. This is a stricter requirement than in years past.

• A rating of Good in the side-crash test.

• Ratings of Good in combined passenger- and driver-side small overlap front crash tests, which mimic a crash with a tree, a telephone pole, or the front corner of an oncoming car. 

• A rating of Acceptable or Good in pedestrian front crash prevention tests and headlight performance evaluations.

To earn a TSP+ rating, vehicles must meet all of those same qualifications and earn the highest score, Good, in the updated moderate overlap front crash test.

Over time, the IIHS has strengthened the requirements for earning a TSP rating. Last year, for example, vehicles only had to earn an Acceptable rating in the moderate overlap test to earn a TSP+ award. As a result, only 48 models have qualified for TSP and TSP+ awards so far in 2025 compared with 71 in 2024. The vehicles that dropped off the list between last year and this year didn’t get less safe; the criteria got tougher.