2018 Honda Odyssey Named IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus

Drivers wanting to get into a minivan that earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s illustrious Top Safety Pick Plus were confined to one vehicle: the Chrysler Pacifica. The 2018 Honda Odyssey, though, has changed that, as the Japanese minivan managed to snag the institute’s highest honor.

The redesigned Odyssey, as the IIHS points out, has two new features that the previous model lacked – Intelligent LED headlights earned an “Acceptable” rating and an automatic emergency braking system that's part of Honda's Sensing suite earned IIHS' highest score, "Superior." These two pieces of equipment helped the new Odyssey surpass the previous model during the institute's safety testing. The Odyssey's high-rated Intelligent LED headlights include high-beam assist and are available on the Touring and Elite trims, while the Honda Sensing suite is available throughout the entire lineup, except for the base LX trim.

The IIHS tested the minivan’s front crash prevention system at two speeds – once at 12 miles per hour and another time at 25 miles per hour – and in both tests, the safety system helped the Odyssey avoid getting into an accident. For comparison, the system on the 2017 Odyssey only earned a rating of “Basic" for its optional forward collision warning system – in today's world of safety technology, "Basic" is almost as bad as not having crash prevention technology at all.

The Odyssey's new safety features weren't enough on their own to earn the Top Safety Pick Plus prize, though. Honda's redesigned minivan also had to receive a rating of “Good” through all five of the institute’s crash tests – the small overlap front, side, moderate overlap front, head restraints, and roof strength tests.

After earning the Top Safety Pick Plus, the Odyssey now sits above the Pacifica in terms of safety, as Chrysler’s offering earned a rating of “Marginal” for the child seat anchors, while the ones in the Odyssey were rated to be “Good Plus.” The Kia Sedona is the only other minivan to earn the institute’s Top Safety Pick award, but lags behind the Pacifica and Odyssey with “Poor” headlights, which is the worst rating possible.

The ancient Toyota Sienna and the Dodge Grand Caravan missed out on earning the IIHS’ Top Safety Pick award with substandard ratings in the small overlap test – the Sienna earned a rating of “Acceptable,” while the Grand Caravan was further behind with a rating of “Poor.”