ORLANDO, Fla. – The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is out with its annual list of safest vehicles.
Each year, the agency raises the bar, making it tougher to earn the highest ratings. This year, the IIHS look at two main areas: the safety of passengers in the back seaT and how well the vehicles could detect and avoid pedestrians in the dark.
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A total of 71 cars, trucks and SUVs made the cut, however, only one American-made vehicle earned a top grade.
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Hyundai Motor Group, which includes the Genesis and Kia brands, led with 16 top safety awards.
Toyota, which also owns Lexus, followed with 13 awards. Mazda earned six.
“We’ve done a really good job at getting the automakers to improve their front crash prevention systems, both for vehicle to vehicle and for vehicle to pedestrian,” IIHS President David Harkey told CBS News. “They’re really making good strides in that area.”
The Ford Explorer was the only model from the big three U.S. automakers to make the list.
The agency is already looking ahead to next year when they hope to see better head restraints to prevent whiplash injuries.
Read the full list from the IIHS here.
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