The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently released its 2024 Top Safety Pick data, and we’ll be honest, pickup trucks as a whole don’t fare well. There are a few (and we mean very few) standouts. So, let’s take a look at the safest 2024 pickup trucks.
IIHS Top Safety Picks
First, however, we should probably dig into the IIHS award criteria because, as you might have guessed, the requirements got more stringent for 2024. There are three big changes to note:
- In the updated side crash test with a heavier barrier traveling at a higher speed, vehicles need to get a Good rating to achieve either a Top Safety Pick (TSP) or Top Safety Pick+ (TSP+) award. Previously, an Acceptable rating was sufficient.
- Vehicles now need an Acceptable or Good rating in a revised version of the pedestrian front crash test, which has both daytime and nighttime testing. Previously, vehicles could get a TSP regardless of whether they detected a pedestrian at night.
- The biggest change comes for rear-seat safety, as a second dummy now sits behind the driver during the moderate front overlap test, and vehicles need to get a Good or Acceptable rating to get either a TSP or TSP+ award.
The goal with stricter tests is to force automakers to create safer vehicles with less fatalities in crashes.
Safest 2024 pickup trucks
There are just three trucks that make the list this year – and none of them got the TSP+ award. As far as we can tell, it all has to do with the rear-seat safety. All three of the trucks in the TSP category got Good ratings in the original moderate overlap front crash test – the one without the rear-seat dummy.
So, who makes the grade? The Hyundai Santa Cruz, the Rivian R1T and the Toyota Tundra. While testing is ongoing, it’s interesting to see that nothing from the midsize category made the list.
Both the Santa Cruz and R1T don’t appear to have undergone testing in the updated moderate overlap front crash test. But the Tundra gets a Poor rating in the new test, and it’s because of the rear-seat restraints, which move in a crash and increase the risk of abdominal injury.
The bottom line
Just because the IIHS tests are getting stricter, it doesn’t mean that the truck you bought last year is less safe. It just means the new tests expose some weaknesses. It’s good to be aware of what those are, and if you’re buying a new truck and safety is important, it’s really good to know how you and your passengers will fare in a crash.
But at the end of the day, all new vehicles with airbags and crumple zones are more safe today than they were even just 10 years ago.
