Record 90 New Vehicles Earn Top Safety Pick Or Top Safety Pick+ From IIHS

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – This year, a record 90 new vehicles earned a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, up from 64 a year ago.

IIHS President David Harkey said more vehicles made the grade because of auto braking systems and better headlights.

"Automakers are continuing to make improvements in headlights and so they're continuing to achieve winning scores in our headlight testing by casting more light down the road for the driver and eliminating that glare for the oncoming drivers." Harkey said.

The IIHS has yet to test the Genesis GV80 that Tiger Woods crashed near Los Angeles Tuesday. The luxury SUV does have modern safety features including multiple air bags.

Two other Genesis cars were tested and earned top awards. The G70 performed well in the roof strength test, which authorities said is key in rollover accidents like the one Woods was in.

Genesis is part of the Hyundai Motor Group, which also includes KIA. Together the company earned 17 awards, the most of any automaker.

Mitsubishi was the only manufacturer that did not receive a single award.

General Motors earned just two for the Cadillac XT6 and Chevy Equinox.

Harkey said, "for the large number of vehicles that they produce and the models they produce, we only had a couple of award winners for them, so we would like to see them step up their game."

No pickups won an award last year, but this year one did – the Ram 1500 Crew Cab.

The IIHS continues to test new models as they are released.

For a full list of the cars that earned 2021 Top Safety Pick awards from IIHS, click here.