The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or , recently released its list of cars that have won the site’s coveted Top Safety Pick and. Plus, the site recently gave out those awards, resulting in fewer cars qualifying for them. So, here’s a look at the one Lincoln model that made the IIHS’ 2023 Best Safety Picks list.
An overview of the Top Safety Pick list
The is a company that takes cars and then crash tests them, and the results of those crash tests form the basis of the Top Safety Pick list. Four grades are available: good, acceptable, marginal, and poor. The site also tests security systems and there are three grades available. These ranks are Superior, Advanced, and Basic.
and must also have at least an “Acceptable” rating on its standard headlights. Its daytime pedestrian collision avoidance system must be “Advanced” or better.
The Top Safety Pick+ award has similar criteria but is stricter in some areas. The car must achieve a “Good” rating in the updated side crash test. It must also have at least an “Advanced” rating for its nighttime pedestrian crash prevention system.
This is the only Lincoln model that made the list
Due to those strict criteria, it was the only Lincoln model to make the list. Unfortunately for the Detroit-based automaker, the Nautilus only received the Top Safety Pick award. It’s good that it won the award in the first place, but the problem is that it’s in the midsize luxury SUV segment. Every other option in that segment won the Top Safety Pick+ award.
That said, the IIHS didn’t give the Nautilus full marks due to a relatively minor issue. As with every other car that has won a Top Safety Pick award, the Nautilus has performed well in its crash tests. It scored “Good” in almost all crash test categories, with the exception of some portions of the updated side crash test. He still scored ‘Good’ in that test overall, but received less than a ‘Good’ on some injury measures.
It also received a “Good” or “Acceptable” rating for its headlights, and its daytime pedestrian avoidance system received an “Advanced” rating. The only criterion that the Nautilus lacked was the nighttime pedestrian accident prevention system. It doesn’t appear that the SUV has even such a feature, which is why it failed to earn a Top Safety Pick+ award.
Here’s a look at other midsize luxury SUVs that won
Nine other midsize luxury SUVs have won an award and the segment, as they have won six awards in total. Lexus was the biggest winner overall, as the NX, NX Plug-in Hybrid and RX all won a Top Safety Pick+ award. Acura has had two winners with MDX and RDX. The Infiniti QX60 was the latest Asian midsize luxury SUV to win an award.
Volvo was another big winner, as the Swedish automaker had two winners in the segment. The XC90 and XC90 Recharge both won the Top Safety Pick+ award. The Tesla Model Y was the latest midsize luxury SUV to win a Top Safety Pick+ award.
