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Modern cars are becoming safer every year as automakers add new technology to their vehicles and make more safety features standard.
Ratings from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration help car shoppers make wise decisions on vehicles with the highest safety scores.
Fortunately, there are a lot of cars, SUVs, and crossovers to choose from when it comes to choosing a safe vehicle. Here's a look at the best of the bunch.
Kia Optima: The midsize Optima may not the legacy of the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord, but it does win out in terms of offering more standard safety equipment. As long as it has specific headlights, the Optima is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, and six 'Good' ratings from the IIHS in crash tests.
The Optima also picks up a five-star rating from NHTSA. The reasonable base price gets you a ton of safety features as well, including forward collision-avoidance, rear parking sensors, and much more.
Honda Insight: The Insight is the highest-ranking hybrid in terms of safety. For 2019, it is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, a five-star rating from the NHTSA, and it received 'Good' scores on all six IIHS crash tests.
Standard equipment on the Insight includes driver drowsiness monitoring, a rearview camera, and the Honda Sensing package, which adds additional active safety features. Front and rear parking sensors are among the features that can be added.
Subaru Legacy: The midsize Legacy sedan is one of several Subaru vehicles making this list with top safety rankings. It gets the vaunted IIHS Top Safety Pick+ designation when specified with certain headlights, and it also gets a 'Good' score in the six crash tests.
The NHTSA rates the Legacy with five-stars overall. The Legacy comes equipped with the Subaru EyeSight packageof active safety equipment, , and several more safety features can be added as desired.
Hyundai Veloster: The Veloster is one of the few compact cars that garners high safety ratings, thanks to its full redesign for 2019 . It scored 'Good' in six crash tests by the IIHS and also earned a Top Safety Pick designation for models made after August of 2018.
Hyundai offers plenty of standard safety equipment on the Veloster, as well as plenty of additional options.
Honda Accord: The Accord midsize sedan remains a fan favorite, and the newest versions are safer than ever. It scores five-stars in the NHTSA tests and gets six 'Good' ratings from the IIHS. It's also an IIHS Top Safety Pick with specific headlights.
All Accords come with the Honda Sensing package, plus a rearview camera and driver attention monitoring. Rear cross-traffic alert and blind-spot monitoring can also be added.
Mazda 6: Not only is it one of the best-handling cars in its midsize segment, and one of the best-lookng, but the 6 is also one of several Mazdas getting top safety ratings. It's ranked as an IIHS Top Safety Pick when properly equipped and a five-star vehicle as rated by the NHTSA.
Base Mazda 6 models have a generous complement of features, including automatic emergency braking, automatic high beams, and lane-departure warning. A number of optional features can be added.
Subaru Ascent: The three-row Ascent crossover is the largest vehicle Subaru makes but like its Legacy sibling, it's garnered plenty of praise. The Ascent is a Top Safety Pick+ according to the IIHS (with specific equipment).
It also gets five stars from the NHTSA and six 'Good' scores in IIHS crash tests.
The Ascent offers many standard safety features, including lane-departure warning, pre-collision braking, and adaptive cruise control, among others.
Mazda CX-3: Utilizing typical Mazda fun and efficiency, the CX-3 ranks high in most subcompact crossover rankings. Properly equipped CX-3 models get IIHS Top Safety Pick ratings, and it also got a 'Good'score in the six tests.
Standard safety features include blindspot monitoring, a rearview camera, and rear cross-traffic alert. Optional features, like automatic high beams, lane departure warning, and full-speed forward collision warning, can be added.
Hyundai Kona: The Kona's performance and value put it at the top of the subcompact crossover class, but it also happens to score well in the safety category.
More standard equipment was added to the Kona in 2019, which helped it get a Top Safety Pick+ from the IIHS (when properly equipped) and also scored a 'Good' rating over six crash tests.
The NHTSA also gives the Kona top marks with a five-star rating.
Mazda CX-5: The CX-5 is a compact SUV that provides a well-rounded balance of safety, performance, and value. With specific headlights, the CX-5 is also an IIHS Top Safety Pick +. It received a 'Good' score in all six of the IIHS crash tests, as well.
The NHTSA gives it the top rating of five-stars overall.
A base CX-5 comes with standard safety features like low-speed automatic emergency braking and blindspot monitoring. You can also add a range of optional equipment on higher trims.
Subaru Forester: The Forester is a compact crossover that continues to appeal to buyers looking for top safety choices. The IIHS gives it a 'Good' rating in six tests, which is the top rating. Forester models with certain headlights and made after January 2019 also get the Top Safety Pick+ designation.
The NHTSA gives it a five-star rating as well. The Subaru EyeSight package comes with every new Forester, and this package includes items like lane departure warning and reverse automatic braking, among others.
Subaru Outback: The Outback stays competitive in the wagon/crossover class despite its affordable price. This is mainly due to how well-equipped it is.
The IIHS gave it a 'Good' score across six tests and designated it a Top Safety Pick+ with certain headlights.
NHTSA awards the Outback with a five-star rating overall.
The Outback was redesigned for the 2020 model year, but in 2019 it got the EyeSight active safety package from Subaru as standard equipment.
Kia Soul: The Soul offers some of the best value and options in the compact car market. It also happens to be one of the safest. Soul models with a front-crash prevention option and IIHS-approved headlights are considered a Top Safety Pick. Five IIHS tests saw the Soul getting 'Good' scores, and only one received an 'Acceptable' score.
The base Soul only has a rearview camera for advanced safety tech, so you'll have to move up to higher trims to get features like automatic emergency braking and blindspot monitoring.
Honda Civic: Slotting into the compact car category is the ever-popular and top-selling Honda Civic. The Civic is available in just about any style you need it though, including a sedan, coupe, and hatchback.
The sedan and coupe styles garnered 'Good' ratings from the main six IIHS tests. However, the hatchback got only five 'Good' scores out of six due to not being tested in one test.
The Honda Sensing package comes standard with every Civic model and includes features like adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking, among others.
Hyundai Sonata: The Sonata is one of the better midsize cars available, with well-rounded features and high safety ratings. The IIHS gives the Sonata a Top Safety Pick+ (as long as it's equipped with particular headlights) and front-crash prevention, which is optional on the Sonata.
The Sonata also received 'Good' scores across six tests from the IIHS. The NHTSA gives it a five-star rating overall.
Even though Hyundai usually has plenty of safety features on its vehicles, many of the Sonata's best features are on higher trim levels rather than standard.
Kia Cadenza: The Cadenza falls into the large car category and it's also an IIHS Top Safety Pick (when equipped with specific headlights and the option of front crash prevention). IIHS also scored it with a 'Good' in six tests.
Standard safety features on the Cadenza include a rearview camera, blindspot monitoring, lane-change assist, and rear cross-traffic alert, among others.
Buyers should know that higher trims have many of the more desirable features such as forward-collision warning, adaptive cruise control, and driver drowsiness monitoring.
VW Atlas: If you're looking for a midsize SUV with three rows of seats, then the Atlas is a good and safe pick. The IIHS gave it a 'Good' rating across the board and NHTSA awarded it with a five-star crash test rating overall.
All new Atlas models come with a rearview camera, automatic emergency braking, blindspot monitoring, and a post-collision braking system.
The Atlas also has several additional safety features available as options, including a surround-view camera system and front and rear parking sensors.
Hyundai Santa Fe: The Santa Fe was redesigned for 2019 and is one of the higher-rated midsize SUVs in terms of safety. The IIHS gave it a 'Good' score in six different tests as well as naming it a Top Safety Pick+.
However, the latter designation only applies to models with a certain type of headlight that meets IIHS standards.
The Santa Fe comes loaded with standard safety features, a key reason why it's considered a good choice for young drivers. Some features include automatic high beams, forward collision avoidance assist, and driver attention monitoring.
Toyota Avalon: The Avalon belongs to the large car category, and it offers high safety scores, depending on the model. The IIHS named the Avalon models made after September 2018 a Top Safety Pick+ (with specific headlight options).
The NHTSA also gives the Avalon high marks with an overall five-star rating.
Standard features include the Toyota Safety Sense Plus package as well as a rearview camera and blindspot monitoring.