Only 1 Affordable American SUV Is Very Safe for Surviving a Crash
With thousands of deaths from car accidents yearly, safety is a crucial factor in vehicles. This is especially true for SUVs. They’re often the choice for families and typically hold more passengers than other vehicle types. However, consumers won’t find many affordable mainstream American SUVs that are very safe for surviving a car crash. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), there’s only one: the 2023 Ford Explorer. It won a 2023 IIHS Top Safety Pick award.
The 2023 Ford Explorer is the only mainstream American SUV with an IIHS Top Safety Pick award
Americans are increasingly buying SUVs instead of sedans. More than half of vehicle purchases in the United States are SUVs. Unfortunately, if you place a premium on safety, SUVs from domestic automakers leave much to be desired.
Recently, the IIHS unveiled its 2023 awards based on rigorous crash tests and other car safety evaluations. The only affordable non-luxury American SUV to earn one is the 2023 Explorer. Ford’s midsize SUV, starting at $36,760, won an IIHS Top Safety Pick honor.
Though two other American SUVs earned safety awards, they are both higher-priced luxury models: the Lincoln Nautilus ($44,825) and the Tesla Model Y ($47,240). Like the Explorer, the Nautilus earned a Top Safety Pick award. But the Model Y achieved the highest Top Safety Pick+ honor.
The 2023 Ford Explorer performed well in crash tests
The 2023 Ford Explorer earned a 2023 Top Safety Pick award because it performed well in crash tests and other IIHS safety evaluations. It achieved perfect scores in many areas, including roof strength, front and side-impact crash tests, front crash prevention (vehicle-to-vehicle), seats, and head restraints.
However, the Explorer got lower scores in several areas, preventing the American SUV from earning the highest Top Safety Pick+ award. Those areas include headlights, seat belt reminders, front crash prevention (vehicle-to-pedestrian), and the LATCH system for attaching child car seats.
But for an affordable mainstream American SUV, the Explorer is the safest choice.
What other affordable SUVs earned a 2023 IIHS award?
Although the 2023 Ford Explorer is the only affordable non-luxury American SUV to win an IIHS safety award, the organization honored many foreign models. In the small SUV segment, that includes the Toyota Venza, Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Honda HR-V, Mazda CX-30, Mazda CX-5, Mazda CX-50, Subaru Forester, Subaru Solterra, and Nissan Rogue.
Along with the Explorer, affordable mainstream midsize SUVs with an IIHS award include the Toyota Highlander, Subaru Ascent, Nissan Pathfinder, Mazda CX-9, Kia Telluride, and Hyundai Palisade. However, the IIHS didn’t hasn’t given awards to full-size SUVs yet.
Car safety is a factor that many people take for granted. For most, driving is a routine activity that doesn’t involve car accidents. However, crashes can happen anytime — and it takes only one to cause injuries or death.
For consumers wanting an affordable, non-luxury American SUV, the 2023 Ford Explorer is the safest for surviving a car crash.
