What changed in vehicle safety during 2025

Several important shifts happened in 2025 that directly affect 2026 safety rankings.

Stricter crash testing
Safety organizations updated testing methods, especially for side-impact protection, pedestrian detection, and crash-avoidance performance. Vehicles that scored well under older standards do not always score the same under newer ones.

More standard safety features, uneven performance
Automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assistance, blind-spot monitoring, and adaptive cruise control became more common across brands. However, performance varies significantly between manufacturers. Having a feature is not the same as having a reliable one.

Increased focus on electric vehicle safety
Electric vehicles brought new safety considerations into focus, including battery protection, vehicle weight, crash energy management, and post-collision safety. This led to more scrutiny of how EVs perform in both crash tests and real-world driving.

More buyer-specific safety decisions
Consumers are no longer looking for a single “safest car.” They are comparing safety by use case: families, new drivers, older drivers, luxury buyers, and EV owners. Brand-level consistency now matters more than one high-scoring model.

How safety is measured

Modern vehicle safety is evaluated using independent crash testing, technology performance, and real-world outcomes. No single score tells the full story. Reliable safety analysis looks at all three.

Crash test ratings

Crash tests measure how well a vehicle protects occupants and pedestrians in controlled but realistic collision scenarios. In the U.S., two organizations set the standard.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)

IIHS focuses on crashworthiness and crash avoidance. Its tests are widely considered the most demanding.

Key areas IIHS evaluates:

• Small overlap and moderate overlap frontal crashes
• Side-impact protection
• Roof strength
• Headlight effectiveness
• Pedestrian detection and automatic emergency braking performance

Vehicles that perform consistently well across these tests may earn Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ awards. These awards are model-specific, but when a brand earns them across many vehicles, it signals strong safety engineering at the brand level.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

NHTSA uses a 5-star safety rating system that focuses on:

• Frontal crash protection
• Side crash protection
• Rollover resistance
• 
  

NHTSA ratings are easier for consumers to understand and are useful for quick comparisons. However, they are less detailed than IIHS testing. For serious buyers, the strongest safety conclusions come from looking at both IIHS and NHTSA results together, especially when comparing car safety ratings from 2025 and newer model years.

Brands That Consistently Perform Well in Safety (2025 → 2026)

Rather than naming a single winner, these brands are often recognized for strong safety performance across many models and years when tested by IIHS and NHTSA:

• Volvo – Long-term focus on structural safety and standard safety features
• Subaru – Strong crash test results and standard driver-assist systems on most models
• Toyota & Lexus – Consistent ratings, good reliability, and wide availability of safety tech
• Honda & Acura – Balanced safety performance across sedans, SUVs, and hybrids
• Mazda – Excellent crashworthiness scores in recent years, especially for small and midsize vehicles

Important: Always check the exact model and model year. Even within the same brand, results can vary.

Safety Tech to Look for in 2026

Standard vs. optional safety features

One of the biggest safety gaps between brands is what comes standard versus what is locked behind higher trims or add-on packages.

From a safety perspective:

• Standard features protect more drivers, in more situations
• Optional features only help if buyers pay for them and use them correctly

Brands that rank well in car safety ratings for 2025 and newer models tend to make core safety systems standard across most of their lineup. That consistency is a major factor when evaluating safest car brands in 2026.

Automatic emergency braking (AEB)

Automatic emergency braking is one of the most important safety technologies available today.

What it does:

• Detects vehicles, pedestrians, or obstacles ahead
• Applies the brakes if the driver does not react in time
• Reduces crash severity or prevents the crash entirely

What to look for in 2026:

• AEB that works at both city and highway speeds
• Pedestrian and cyclist detection
• Smooth braking behavior that avoids false or late activation

Not all AEB systems perform equally. Real-world effectiveness matters more than whether the feature simply exists on a spec sheet.

Lane departure warning and lane-keeping assist

Lane-related safety systems help prevent unintentional drifting, which is a common cause of serious accidents.

Key differences to understand:

• Lane departure warning alerts the driver
• Lane-keeping assist actively helps guide the vehicle back into the lane

In 2026, the better systems:

• Read lane markings reliably in varied conditions
• Provide gentle steering input instead of aggressive corrections
• Allow the driver to stay in control without constant alerts

Poorly tuned systems can be distracting. Well-calibrated systems quietly reduce risk.

Adaptive cruise control

Adaptive cruise control has moved from a convenience feature to a meaningful safety system.

Modern systems can:

• Maintain a safe following distance
• Adjust speed smoothly in traffic
• Reduce driver fatigue on longer drives
• 
  

When evaluating this feature:

• Look for stop-and-go capability
• Check how smoothly the system accelerates and brakes
• Avoid systems that rely too heavily on abrupt braking

Consistent adaptive cruise control performance contributes to safer highway driving and fewer rear-end collisions.

Emerging safety technology in 2026

Driver monitoring systems

Driver monitoring is becoming more common and more important.

These systems:

• Track eye movement or head position
• Detect distraction or drowsiness
• Alert the driver or limit system engagement if attention drops

In 2026, effective driver monitoring is less intrusive and more accurate. The goal is not to annoy drivers, but to prevent situations where driver-assist systems are relied on incorrectly.

AI-assisted safety alerts

AI-assisted safety systems are an evolution of existing ADAS technology.

What they aim to improve:

• Faster threat recognition
• Better prediction of surrounding vehicle behavior
• More context-aware alerts instead of constant warnings

When done well, AI-assisted alerts reduce false alarms and improve response timing. When done poorly, they increase confusion. Brands that invest in careful calibration and testing benefit most from this technology.



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