The IIHS made its testing harder for 2026 — again. This time, the bar for the moderate overlap front test was raised, requiring a Good rating where Acceptable used to be enough for a Top Safety Pick award . The result: a reshuffled leaderboard where some familiar nameplates maintained their standing and others slipped. Mazda leads the industry with eight Top Safety Pick+ awards, the most of any automaker this year . But not every headline-grabbing SUV cleared the bar — and some that missed did so in ways that matter specifically for families with kids in the back seat. Here are seven popular SUVs that performed well in the latest round of testing, and three that deserve a more careful look before you sign.
7 Popular SUVs With Strong Crash Scores
These vehicles all earned either a 2026 IIHS Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ award — meaning they cleared the updated moderate overlap front test with a Good rating, performed well in the small overlap front and side tests, and met the agency's pedestrian crash prevention and headlight standards .
1. Hyundai Tucson (Top Safety Pick+)
The Tucson earned the IIHS's highest honor for 2026, making it one of the safest compact SUVs available at a mainstream price point . Standard safety equipment includes automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert. Hyundai's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty adds a layer of ownership confidence that safety ratings alone can't capture.
2. Kia Sportage (Top Safety Pick+)
The Sportage matches its corporate cousin, the Tucson, with a Top Safety Pick+ rating . Like the Hyundai, it cleared the updated moderate overlap front test with a Good rating — the test that tripped up several rivals this year. Kia's standard active lane keeping assist can be adjusted for sensitivity or turned off, which addresses a common complaint about overzealous driver aids.
3. Subaru Forester (Top Safety Pick+)
The Forester continues Subaru's long safety streak with a Top Safety Pick+ award . One factor worth highlighting: the Forester offers best-in-class outward visibility, which matters for accident avoidance before the crash tests ever come into play. Subaru's driver attention warning system can be intrusive, but the core crash protection numbers are strong where they count.
4. Mazda CX-90 (Top Safety Pick+)
Mazda earned more Top Safety Pick+ awards than any other automaker in 2026, and the CX-90 is a standout in the three-row segment . It achieved perfect Good ratings across all three major crash tests — small overlap front, moderate overlap front, and side — and also cleared the vehicle-to-vehicle crash prevention test . For families who need a third row and prioritize crash protection, the CX-90 has the strongest published data in its class right now.
5. Hyundai Santa Fe (Top Safety Pick+)
The Santa Fe added a five-star overall NHTSA rating to its Top Safety Pick+ award for 2026 — a notable improvement over the previous model year's four-star score . Blind-spot monitoring, lane keeping assist, and a rear cross-traffic collision avoidance system are all standard. For family buyers cross-shopping three-row SUVs, the Santa Fe now sits in a small group of vehicles with top marks from both major U.S. safety agencies.
6. Hyundai Kona (Top Safety Pick+)
At a starting price of approximately $25,500, the Kona is one of the most affordable SUVs to earn a Top Safety Pick+ award . It proves that strong crash protection doesn't require a premium price tag — a useful data point for budget-conscious family buyers who might otherwise assume safety correlates directly with cost.
7. Subaru Ascent (Top Safety Pick+)
The Ascent is now in its eighth model year without a full redesign, yet it still earned both a Top Safety Pick+ from IIHS and a five-star overall rating from NHTSA . That longevity is a double-edged signal — the platform is aging, but the safety engineering has held up against newer, stricter tests. For Subaru-loyal families who need three rows, the Ascent remains a solid choice.
3 That Need a Closer Look
These vehicles either missed an IIHS award entirely in 2026, or carry asterisks that family buyers should understand before making a decision.
1. Toyota Highlander — Moderate Overlap Front: Marginal
The Highlander's result in the updated moderate overlap front test is the most concerning on this list. The rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics received a Marginal rating — the second-lowest score on the IIHS scale . Specifically, the IIHS found elevated head and neck injury risk for rear-seat occupants in that test, which directly affects families who put children or smaller adults in the back. This alone ruled the Highlander out of any Top Safety Pick award for 2026.
2. Honda Pilot — Moderate Overlap Front: Acceptable
The Pilot fared better than the Highlander but still fell short of a Good rating in the moderate overlap front test, posting an Acceptable score that kept it from earning Top Safety Pick status . The Pilot is still a safe vehicle by any reasonable real-world measure — its small overlap front and side test results are Good — but the updated moderate overlap protocol exposed a gap in rear-seat protection that didn't exist under the older test. If you're comparing the Pilot against a CX-90 or Telluride with verified Good ratings across the board, this is a relevant data point.
3. Toyota bZ / Subaru Solterra — Multi-Test Downgrade
The 2026 bZ (formerly bZ4X) and its mechanical twin, the Subaru Solterra, present a unique caution: both were Top Safety Pick+ winners in 2025, but after a mid-cycle refresh, both fell short in three of the six tests required for even the lower-tier Top Safety Pick award . The 2026 models dropped to Acceptable in both frontal crash tests, and their new standard headlights rated Poor — the lowest possible score . The IIHS noted that the dummy's interaction with the passenger airbag worsened compared to the 2025 model, and the driver showed higher lower right leg injury risk . This is not a case of an unsafe vehicle. But it is a case where a redesign did not improve crash performance — and for family buyers, that's a data point worth knowing.
What This Means for Your Shopping List
The 2026 IIHS changes boiled down to one core demand: better protection for back-seat passengers, not just drivers . The moderate overlap front test now places a smaller dummy — representing a child or small adult — in the rear seat, and vehicles that protect the driver perfectly can still fail if the rear-seat occupant isn't adequately restrained .
This is the test that tripped up the Highlander, the Pilot, and the redesigned bZ/Solterra. It's also the test that the Tucson, Sportage, Forester, and CX-90 all passed with a Good rating .
Three practical rules for using safety ratings in your decision:
Prioritize vehicles with a 2026 Top Safety Pick+ if safety is non-negotiable. The plus-tier award requires a Good rating in the moderate overlap test, plus acceptable vehicle-to-vehicle crash prevention and good pedestrian crash prevention . It's the most comprehensive safety signal available to a consumer right now.
Don't assume model-year consistency. The bZ and Solterra went from Top Safety Pick+ to no award in a single model year . A 2025 rating and a 2026 rating are not interchangeable. Always check the current model year's results.
Look at the sub-scores, not just the badge. The Highlander and Pilot are still safe vehicles. But the Marginal and Acceptable rear-seat scores in the moderate overlap test are specific, published data points that matter if you regularly carry kids . Don't let an overall reputation override a known weakness.
The safest SUV isn't the one with the best marketing. It's the one with the best published crash data — and in 2026, that data is easier to find than ever, provided you know which tests to check.
Sources: IIHS 2026 award criteria and test protocols, IIHS individual vehicle ratings, MotorTrend Top Safety Pick+ vehicle lists, Yahoo Autos/Autoblog three-row SUV safety comparison.