The 2023 Honda Accord Passes Strict Safety Tests with Flying Colors, But There’s a Catch
With a complete redesign for 2023, the latest Honda Accord aces strict new IIHS safety standards, earning IIHS Top Safety Pick+ honors. The new Accord has already garnered much attention for its improved design and interior comfort, and now it has proven itself one of the safest new cars of 2023.
Strict IIHS safety standards see many vehicles fall short
Between 2022 and 2023, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) introduced more strict safety tests regarding side impacts. These updated testing standards have seen many high-achieving vehicles lose their Top Safety Pick+ ratings when undergoing the new evaluations.
Cars that previously earned high marks, including the Subaru Legacy and Hyundai Sonata, fell to Top Safety Picks, one down from the Top Safety Pick+ category. Meanwhile, the 2023 Honda Accord aces the new safety standards and earns top marks and then some.
The 2023 Honda Accord aces all IIHS crash tests
Despite the higher impact force of updated side impact tests, the 2023 Honda Accord earned perfect marks in all IIHS crash test categories. In both driver and passenger front overlap tests, along with the moderate overlap test, the Accord passed with flying colors. Only in the moderate overlap test did results show minor leg or foot injuries.
The new side impact tests were a similar story, where the Accord was Good in every metric but one, where it earned an Acceptable rating for driver pelvic-area injury.
The Accord shows excellent vehicle-to-pedestrian daytime crash prevention
In addition, the 2023 Honda Accord and its Collision Mitigation Braking System do well to prevent vehicle-to-pedestrian crashes in nearly every daytime scenario. From 12 to 37 mph, the largest measured impact was a 3 mph impact to a crossing adult when traveling 25 mph. In parallel adult pedestrian tests up to 37 mpg, the Accord managed to avoid all contact.
Only 1 safety category where the Honda Accord isn’t perfect
While the 2023 Accord aces all of the collision safety categories, the vehicle-to-pedestrian test found one small flaw in its safety systems.
The standard Collision Mitigation Braking System did well to detect and avoid pedestrian collisions during the day. However, testing shows very different results in nighttime testing.
With high beams on, the Accord avoided avoided pedestrian collisions in every scenario, including both 25 mpg crossing and parallel pedestrian tests.
With low beams, though, the Accord had trouble avoiding pedestrian collisions. Even at speeds as low as 12 mph, the Accord would strike pedestrians with only low beams activated. At that speed, the car could detect the hazard, but not come to a stop completely before impact.
In all other tests, including two 25 mph and one 37 mph test, the Accord failed to react or slow down to avoid colliding with pedestrians.
The 2023 Honda Accord is the safest new car of 2023
Overall, just a handful of midsize cars earn Top Safety Pick+ awards. That makes the 2023 Honda Accord one of the safest new midsize cars of the year, joining just the Subaru Outback, Toyota Camry, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
