Toyota Tacoma Matches Honda Ridgeline In Crash Tests, but Not Overall Safety

Toyota Trims outscore the Colorado, Canyon, and Frontier.

In a recent round of testing, the 2017 Toyota Tacoma pickup scored “Good” on all five of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) crash tests. All Tacoma configurations tested earned a "Good" score on the Small Frontal Overlap test, including the Double Cab and Access Cab. That puts the Tacoma ahead of the Canyon, Colorado, and Frontier.

Colorado and Canyon Crash Test Results
One of the two trims of the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon do not earn the top score, but rather only “Acceptable.” Both the Crew Cab and King Cab configurations of the Nissan Frontier also score poorly, with a “marginal” result on this important test.

Tacoma Falls Short
Although the Tacoma scored well on all of its crash tests, it still cannot earn the top safety score awarded by IIHS for two reasons. First, the Tacoma is one of the Toyota models that does not come with active safety measures like automatic emergency braking. Toyota runs advertisements touting how important this technology is on the RAV4 and Corolla, and boasts that only Toyota offers it standard on all trims. Why Toyota feels it is unimportant on its top-selling pickup is unclear. The technology has been proven to reduce front to rear crashes by 40% in real-world analysis of models that have the technology on different trims. The Tacoma also only offers “poor” rated headlights. This is common to all trucks in the recent test.

There is one midsize pickup that does earn the IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus score. That is the new Honda Ridgeline.