NHTSA Picks 23 Vehicles for 2027 Crash Tests and Adds a New Pedestrian Safety Score

• NHTSA named 23 vehicles for 2027 crash testing, 18 for a brand-new pedestrian protection check, and 10 for driver-assistance evaluation under its 5-Star Safety Ratings program.
• The pedestrian protection category is new this year. A first batch of 102 vehicles from 10 manufacturers already passed the criteria in results NHTSA posted in September.
• Shoppers can look up results for a specific model at NHTSA.gov/ratings, where a yellow box marks pass, fail, or pending for pedestrian protection, alongside the usual star ratings for front, side, and rollover crashes.

A Tesla, a Rivian, and 21 Other Models Are Headed to NHTSA’s Crash Lab

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its testing list for model year 2027 vehicles on October 15, naming the specific cars, trucks, and SUVs that will face the agency’s crash sleds, pedestrian impact rigs, and driver-assistance checks over the coming months. Anyone shopping for a new vehicle next year can use the list to see which models will carry an updated 5-Star Safety Rating and which ones are getting NHTSA’s newest test for the first time: a dedicated pedestrian protection score.

NHTSA’s 5-Star program has run for more than 30 years and now covers 87 percent of new vehicles sold in the United States. “For more than 30 years, NHTSA’s 5-Star Safety Ratings have helped families choose the vehicle that’s right for them,” NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said in the agency’s announcement. “Our 5-Star Safety Rating program also rewards automakers who continuously innovate to improve safety by adding lifesaving technologies to their vehicles.”

What’s Actually Being Tested

NHTSA’s 5-Star program works on a five-point scale for three crash modes: frontal, side, and rollover. A vehicle earns five stars when it protects occupants best across those tests, and fewer stars as injury risk rises in the agency’s measurements. A car can score five stars overall and still carry different ratings for the driver and passenger side in a frontal test, or a different rollover score depending on whether it is a sedan or a taller SUV with a higher center of gravity.

NHTSA split the 2027 testing program into three separate tracks, and a vehicle can land on one, two, or all three lists depending on what the agency wants to check.

Crash safety testing covers 23 vehicles that will go through frontal, side, and rollover crash evaluations: the BMW X5, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Trailblazer, Dodge Charger, Honda Civic Hatchback Type R, Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Tucson, Infiniti QX65, Jeep Cherokee, Kia EV3, Kia Niro, Kia Seltos, Kia Telluride, Lexus NX 350h, Nissan Frontier Crew Cab, Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan Rogue, Nissan Rogue e-Power, the Slate pickup, Tesla Model 3, Toyota Sienna Hybrid, and Volkswagen Atlas.

Pedestrian protection testing, the newest piece of the program, covers 18 vehicles: the Acura MDX, Audi Q5, gas-powered Ford Explorer, Honda HR-V, Hyundai Santa Cruz, Kia EV3, Kia Telluride, Mazda CX-50, Mazda CX-90, Mitsubishi Outlander, Nissan Frontier Crew Cab, Nissan Sentra, Subaru Outback, Tesla Model 3, Toyota Prius, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Toyota Tundra, and Volkswagen Atlas.

Driver-assistance testing covers 10 vehicles across five systems: automatic emergency braking, pedestrian automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist, blind spot warning, and blind spot intervention. Those 10 are the BMW X5, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Hyundai Elantra, Jeep Cherokee, Kia Telluride, Lexus NX 350h, Rivian R2, Tesla Model 3, Toyota Sienna Hybrid, and Volkswagen Atlas.

NHTSA has not set a publication date for the 2027 results. The agency says ratings post to NHTSA.gov/ratings once testing wraps up and the data clears quality checks, and that crash-test stars also show up on window stickers of new vehicles at dealerships.

The Pedestrian Score Already Has a Track Record

Pedestrian protection is not a future concept for NHTSA. The agency posted its first results under the new category on September 18, covering model year 2027 vehicles that had already completed testing by that date. According to that release, 102 vehicle models from 10 manufacturers met the performance criteria.

The test measures injury risk to the head, hips, legs, and knees across three separate impacts: child and adult headform strikes on the hood and windshield area, upper leg impacts on the leading edge of the hood, and full lower-limb impacts on the bumper. A vehicle’s individual ratings page at NHTSA.gov/ratings shows the outcome in a yellow box marked pass, fail, pending, or not submitted, sitting next to the familiar star ratings for crash protection.

“NHTSA’s 5-Star Safety Ratings program is the gold standard,” Morrison said of the pedestrian addition. “By adding a new category for pedestrian safety, we will help consumers make informed choices when buying a new or used vehicle. We expect this recognition to spark thoughtful inclusion of new pedestrian safety designs in more models, making new vehicles safer than ever.”

Pedestrian deaths have been a persistent problem on U.S. roads for more than a decade, with larger hoods and taller front ends on SUVs and pickups raising the odds that a pedestrian struck in a low-speed collision suffers a serious head or leg injury. A hood engineered with more clearance over the engine, or a bumper designed to absorb energy rather than transfer it straight into a leg, can change the outcome of a crash that would otherwise be survivable only for the person inside the vehicle.

The three test scenarios line up with how pedestrians are actually hit. A child headform strike checks what happens when a shorter pedestrian’s head meets the hood or the base of the windshield, where the structure underneath is stiffer and less forgiving. An adult headform strike checks the same impact higher up the hood and across the windshield. The upper leg test measures what the leading edge of the hood does to a hip or thigh at the height where most adult pedestrians make first contact with a tall front end, and the lower-limb test checks the bumper itself, where a knee or shin absorbs the first hit in nearly every pedestrian collision. A vehicle that fails on bumper design alone can still pass or fail the hood-related tests independently, which is part of why NHTSA treats the three impacts as one combined pass-fail outcome rather than a single number.

None of the three test categories replaces the others. A vehicle with a strong five-star crash rating can still carry a fail or a pending mark for pedestrian protection, and a model with excellent driver-assistance scores is not automatically tested for pedestrian protection unless NHTSA selected it for that specific track this year. Buyers who want all three results for one model need to check all three sections of that vehicle’s page at NHTSA.gov/ratings rather than relying on the headline star count alone.

What To Do Before You Buy

Car shoppers do not have to wait for a dealership visit to check a vehicle’s safety record. NHTSA.gov/ratings lets anyone search by make, model, and year to see current star ratings, pedestrian protection status where it applies, and which driver-assistance features a model offers as standard or optional equipment.

• Search the specific model and year at NHTSA.gov/ratings before negotiating a price. Ratings can differ between trim levels and body styles of the same nameplate, so the badge on the fender is not enough on its own.
• Check the window sticker on the lot. Crash-test stars are required to appear there, so a dealer cannot leave a low rating off the paperwork.
• Ask specifically about pedestrian protection status if the model is on this year’s 18-vehicle test list. The rating is new this year and will not yet appear on older printed materials some dealers still hand out.
• Compare driver-assistance systems by name, not by marketing term. Automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist, and blind spot intervention are tested as distinct systems, and a model can pass one and fail or lack another.

NHTSA’s crash-test program began in 1978 and added frontal crash ratings the following year, making it one of the oldest consumer vehicle safety programs run by the federal government. Side-impact testing was added in 1996 and rollover resistance ratings in 2001. The pedestrian protection category introduced this year is the first major addition to the core test battery in more than two decades, and it arrives as automakers lean more heavily on front-end styling cues, like tall grilles and raised hoods, that safety researchers have linked to worse outcomes for people on foot.

NHTSA’s media office can be reached at [email protected] or 202-366-9550 for additional detail on specific test results as they post.

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Sources:

• NHTSA: Trump’s Transportation Department Releases Model Year 2027 Vehicle Testing List for 5-Star Safety Ratings
• NHTSA: Trump’s Transportation Department Releases First-Ever Pedestrian Safety Test Results for 2027 Vehicle Models