When shopping for an SUV, pickup truck, or minivan, choosing a model with the highest safety rating makes sense. In that case, looking for vehicles that earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick+ designation is an easy way to filter out models that don’t meet the safety standard. So let’s round up the safest SUVs, minivans, and pickup trucks of 2022.

What makes an IIHS Top Safety Pick+?

The Top Safety Pick+ award comes from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), “an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries and property damage from motor vehicle crashes.” 

To win a Top Safety Pick+ designation, a vehicle must receive a “Good” rating in the IIHS’s extensive battery of crash tests, including “the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength, and head restraint tests.” In addition, the car must offer “Advanced” or “Superior” vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention. Finally, only models with “Acceptable” or “Good” standard headlights qualify for the designation. 

2022’s safest SUVs

The IIHS separates the safest SUVs into four categories: small SUVs, midsize SUVs, midsize luxury SUVs, and large SUVs. As evidence of the growing number of crossovers and sport utility vehicles, each class has several Top Safety Pick+ recipients. 

Small SUVs

These 19 small SUVs received the IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award for 2022:

• 2022-2023 Chevrolet Trailblazer
• 2022-2023 Ford Bronco Sport
• 2023 Genesis GV60 
• 2023 Honda HR-V 
• 2022-2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 
• 2022-2023 Hyundai Tucson 
• 2022-2023 Kia EV6 
• 2022-2023 Mazda CX-30 
• 2022-2023 Mazda CX-5 
• 2023 Mazda CX-50 
• 2022-2023 Mitsubishi Outlander 
• 2022-2023 Nissan Rogue 
• 2022-2023 Subaru Forester
• 2022 Toyota Corolla Cross
• 2023 Toyota RAV4
• 2022-2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime
• 2022-2023 Volvo C40 Recharge
• 2022 Volvo XC40
• 2022 Volvo XC40 Recharge

Midsize SUVs

The following 10 midsize SUVs received IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards:

• 2022-2023 Ford Explorer
• 2022 Hyundai Palisade
• 2022-2023 Hyundai Santa Fe
• 2022-2023 Mazda CX-9
• 2022-2023 Nissan Murano
• 2022-2023 Nissan Pathfinder
• 2022 Subaru Ascent
• 2022-2023 Toyota Highlander
• 2022-2023 Volkswagen ID.4
• 2022-2023 Volkswagen Tiguan

Midsize luxury SUVs

The midsize luxury SUV segment includes the following 20 models worthy of the Top Safety Pick+ designation:

• 2022-2023 Acura MDX
• 2022-2023 Acura RDX
• 2022-2023 Audi Q4 e-tron
• 2022-2023 Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback
• 2022-2023 Audi Q5
• 2022-2023 Audi Q5 Sportback
• 2022-2023 BMW X3
• 2022-2023 Cadillac XT6
• 2022-2023 Genesis GV70
• 2022-2023 Genesis GV80
• 2022 Hyundai Nexo
• 2023 Infinity QX60
• 2022 Lexus NX
• 2022 Lexus NX Plug-in Hybrid
• 2022-2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class
• 2022-2023 Tesla Model Y
• 2022-2023 Volvo XC60
• 2022-2023 Volvo XC60 Recharge
• 2022 Volvo XC90
• 2022 XC90 Recharge

Large SUVs

By contrast, only three large SUVs, all from Audi, won Top Safety Pick+ in 2022:

• 2022-2023 Audi e-tron
• 2022-2023 Audi e-tron Sportback
• 2023 Audi Q8

2022’s safest minivans

Although SUVs now dominate as consumers’ preferred family haulers, three minivans still boast Top Safety PIck+ honors: 

• 2022 Chrysler Pacifica
• 2022-2023 Honda Odyssey
• 2022 Toyota Sienna

2022’s safest pickup trucks

These two pickup trucks snagged Top Safety Pick+ for 2022:

• 2022-2023 Rivian R1T Crew Cab
• 2022 Toyota Tundra Crew Cab

A note about IIHS Top Safety Pick+ winners

Although a specific 2022 model could win the award, that designation might derive from testing a vehicle with a shared platform from a previous model year if it remained unchanged. For example, the 2022 Chevrolet Trailblazer is a 2022 Top Safety Pick+, and that rating applies to 2021 to 2023 models built after July 2020. However, the IIHS lists the “tested vehicle” as a 2021 Buick Encore GX Select four-door with four-wheel drive. This practice is common across all segments and does not degrade the award.