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The vehicles listed below have been identified as the safest of all

model-year 2013 vehicles per the following criteria:

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Rated “Top Pick” by IIHS and “5-Star Overall” by NHTSA, i.e., Super-Stars. The testing protocols used by these agencies complement each other and they must both agree the vehicle has superior crashworthiness.* 

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Each individual rating must be in the top quartile for frontal impact, side impact, rear impact and rollover. This filters out vehicles with individual crash modes that have above average risk.**

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Size/weight-based projected fatality rates must be less than that of the average weight passenger car. This filters out vehicles with higher than average vehicle incompatibility risk, measured as Driver Fatality Factor > 1.0 .***

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The Safest**** Vehicles for 2013

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*87% of vehicles rated by IIHS are designated "Top Pick" of which approximately half are rated below "5-Star Overall" by NHTSA.        .     .      **IIHS requires each of the four crash modes (frontal, side, rear and rollover) to achieve the highest possible rating "GOOD" for a vehicle to be designated "Top Pick". Recently, IIHS added an additional "small overlap" frontal impact test and at this time only 1-of-4 vehicles have been subjected to this new test. It is too soon to establish a calibrated safety threshold rating level, however of those vehicles subjected to this additional test 39% were rated either "GOOD" or "ACCEPTABLE" and therefore  vehicles rated "MARGINAL" or "POOR" have been culled from the Super-Star list. ..      NHTSA determines which vehicles receive a "5-Star Overall" rating based on integrating the risk for all crash modes to arrive at a single overall rating for each vehicle.  However, despite some vehicles being designated "5-Star Overall" they have lower than average ratings in one or more individual crash modes. Those vehicles have been culled from the Super-Star list.   ..      ***The relative weight of a vehicle compared with one it collides with in a head-on crash is a critical determinant of the forces the occupants are subjected to, however vehicle weight is not considered in crash test ratings and must be evaluated separately. The effect of weight is determined by using the driver fatality factor, which is the ratio of driver fatality rate for a vehicle based on its size/weight versus the driver fatality rate in a 3,200 lb. passenger car. Approximately 20% of Super-Star vehicles have a driver fatality ratio greater than 1.0 and have been culled from this list. Click here for more information about vehicle size/weight incompatibility .      . .      ****Only vehicles with ratings published by NHTSA and IIHS are evaluated.     .    .      .      .