Why Did Only 2 Pickup Trucks Make the Latest IIHS Top Safety Pick List?
If you're anything like us, you occasionally find yourself going down an unexpected automotive rabbit hole. For example, you may have been recently glancing over the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety's list of 2025 Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ winners and thinking, Where are all the trucks?
Because the number of pickups that made the IIHS's top ranks this year is significantly less than in 2024. Last year, the Hyundai Santa Cruz, Toyota Tacoma (crew cab), Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 (crew cab and extended cab), Toyota Tundra (crew cab and extended cab) all garnered a rating of TSP or TSP+. In 2025, however, the list is down to two: the Rivian R1T and the crew cab Toyota Tundra. That's a rough culling of the herd, especially considering none of these pickups entered a new generation for 2025.
So what's the deal? Road & Track asked IIHS spokesperson Joe Young to explain why so many pickups have dropped off the list.
'Several pickups that qualified for safety awards under our less stringent 2024 criteria have fallen off this year's list due to lackluster performance in [the] updated moderate overlap crash test,' Young says.
See, the new moderate overlap front test takes a rear seat passenger dummy simulating a 'small woman or 12-year-old child' into account for the first time. Previously, only the risk to front occupants was taken into account.
In the Ford F-150's case, the IIHS says it earned a 'poor' rating because the seat belt didn't do a good job restraining the occupant. Young says the dummy experienced what the IIHS refers to as 'submarining,' which 'is dangerous because it puts high belt forces into the organs and even spine of an occupant, increasing the risk of injury.'
Hyundai's small pickup, the Santa Cruz, misses out on the TSP rating this year due to a similar issue. It only scored a 'marginal' rating on the moderate overlap test, with the IIHS saying it 'also had issues with the shoulder belt and risk of head/neck injury for the rear dummy.'
There's more than just the tough test at play here, though. While the IIHS might've put out a big press release with its exhausting list of TSP and TSP+ picks listed on it on March 13, this is a rolling list. The organization simply hasn't had time to test every new pickup yet, and the Tacoma is one of those still pending. Same goes for the Chevrolet Colorado, and the extended cab version of the Tundra.
'As with past years, we'll continue testing vehicles and naming additional Top Safety Picks throughout the year,' Young says. 'We're hoping to see a few more pickups qualify so that consumers considering a small or large pickup have more options that make the grade for crashworthiness, crash prevention technology and headlight performance.'
The picture for pickups might not look quite as bleak once those other 2025 models are scored with the new IIHS testing regiment — but only time will tell.
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