2022 Toyota Corolla sedan, hatchback earn highest award

The 2022 Toyota Corolla sedan and hatchback, both small cars, earn Top Safety Pick+ awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

To qualify for either of the Institute’s two awards, vehicles must earn good ratings in six IIHS crashworthiness evaluations, including the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original 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.

For the lower-tier Top Safety Pick award, at least one good or acceptable headlight system must be available. For the higher-tier Top Safety Pick+, good or acceptable headlights must be standard across all trims.

The Corollas meet all the criteria for the “plus.” Both vehicles come with a standard front crash prevention system that earns superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian tests. Two LED projector-based headlight systems are available — one curve-adaptive and one not — that each earn an acceptable rating.

The awards apply to vehicles built after November 2021, when Toyota made improvements to the non-curve-adaptive headlight system. Earlier, that system earned a marginal rating.