Honda Odyssey earns first 2020 IIHS safety award for minivan

With superior-rated front crash prevention and standard acceptable-rated headlights, the 2021 Honda Odyssey becomes the first minivan to earn a 2020 award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The Odyssey qualifies for the Institute's highest accolade — Top Safety Pick+ — and also earns the highest rating of Good+ for ease of use of its child seat attachment hardware.

To qualify for a 2020 Top Safety Pick+ award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in six crashworthiness evaluations, including the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. It also needs advanced or superior ratings for both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention, as well as acceptable or good headlight ratings across all trim levels.

The 2021 Odyssey replaces the optional front crash prevention system available in 2020 with a standard one that earns superior ratings in the Institute’s vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations. In the vehicle-to-vehicle evaluation, the Odyssey avoided collisions at 12 and 25 mph. In the vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluation, it avoided collisions or substantially slowed, mitigating the force of the impact, in tests designed to simulate three common pedestrian crash scenarios.

For the new model, Honda also eliminated two halogen headlight variations offered on the 2020 version that were rated marginal and poor due to inadequate illumination on curves. LED reflectors that earn an acceptable rating, including a bonus for high-beam assist, are now standard on all trims.

The Odyssey is the only minivan that earns the top rating for ease of use of its LATCH child seat attachment hardware. The Good+ rating means the vehicle offers maximum flexibility for installing child restraints using LATCH.