Leaderboard
Safest vehicles by NHTSA rating
Top-rated vehicles from the NHTSA New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) crash-test ratings, among model-year records with a published NCAP rating.
The verdict
2026 KIA Sportage anchors the current 4–5★ NCAP leaderboard; 1,439 of 2,107 rated model-years (68.3%) earned a full 5-star overall score, with a 4.67-star average across rated rows.
- 1,439
- 5-star model-years
- 642
- 4-star model-years
- 4.67
- Avg overall (rated)
- 5
- #1 2026 KIA Sportage
NCAP crash-test ratings · data updated August 2026. "Not Rated" rows are excluded from averages.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 2,107 vehicle model-years carry a published NCAP crash-test rating. The leaderboard below ranks 4–5★ vehicles (newest first within each star band); read our methodology for how NHTSA combines frontal, side, and rollover crash tests.
Top 100 Safest Model Years
About NHTSA Safety Ratings
NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) rates vehicles using crash test results in three areas:
- Frontal Crash: Full-width barrier test at 35 mph
- Side Crash: Side barrier and side pole impact tests
- Rollover: Static stability factor measuring rollover resistance
Data source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Ratings are not comparable across different weight classes.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. Star counts and averages include only model-years with a published NCAP overall rating (2,107 rated; vintage August 2026). See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.