2022 Hyundai Santa Fe earns highest IIHS award

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe, a midsize SUV, qualifies for a Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, following improvements to the available headlight offerings.

To qualify for either of the Institute’s two awards, vehicles must earn good ratings in all six IIHS crashworthiness evaluations, including the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. They must also be available with a front crash prevention system that earns advanced or superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.

Headlight ratings are what separate the higher-tier Top Safety Pick+ award from the lower-tier Top Safety Pick. For the lower-tier award, at least one good or acceptable headlight system must be available. For the “plus,” good or acceptable headlights must be standard across all trims.

The 2021 Santa Fe was a Top Safety Pick. It missed out on the higher award because not all of the available headlight systems earned good or acceptable ratings. Model year 2022 vehicles built after July 2021 come exclusively with good or acceptable headlights.

The Santa Fe comes with a standard front crash prevention system that earns superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations.