IIHS tested 12 cars, half of which managed "Good" or "Acceptable" ratings overall, qualifying them for the the coveted Top Safety Pick+.
Top Safety Pick+ is still a fairly rare achievement since the new small overlap crash tests were instituted, as it's taken manufacturers time to design, engineer, build and bring to market cars that can score well on the new metric.
The overlap front crash test covers the car's structure, restraint systems and kinematics, as well as measuring the "injuries" the crash test dummy's heads, necks, chests, hips, thighs, legs and feet.
The highest scorers were the Honda Civic Sedan, followed closely by the Civic Coupe. These were also the only two to earn overall scores of "Good." The Dodge Dart, Ford Focus,Hyundai Elantra and Scion tC all earned acceptable scores overall, which was still enough to qualify them for the TSP+ rating. The bottom half of the test included the Chevrolet Sonic, Volkswagen Beetle, Chevrolet Cruze, Nissan Sentra, Kia Soul and Kia Forte.
Only 25 models have earned the TSP+ rating so far, which requires cars to earn "Good" ratings for occupant protection in four out of five tests, while scoring at least an acceptable on the fifth test.
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