Mazda models tested for 2017 were the Mazda CX-9, Mazda CX-3, Mazda3, Mazda6 and most recently, the all-new Mazda CX-5.

CX-5 has been awarded as a Top Safety Pick every year since its debut in 2012. CX-5’s available Smart City Brake Support and the effectiveness of its standard LED headlights were both instrumental to CX-5 earning top scores in the latest, strictest additions to IIHS safety criteria.

According to IIHS, Mazda is the only automaker out of 16 OEMs to receive Top Safety Pick+ ratings for all 2017 models tested so far this year. The results were possible because all models performed well in the newly added headlight performance category, as well as existing crashworthiness evaluation categories.

Mazda’s overarching safety philosophy, Mazda Proactive Safety, is grounded in understanding, respecting and believing in the abilities of the human driver. Based on this concept, and in the belief that enabling the driver correctly to recognize hazards, make judgments and operate the vehicle is essential for safety and peace of mind, the company revised its designs from a vehicle-total perspective.

As a result, all new-generation models share a number of features that have proven popular with a wide range of customers. These include a natural driving position and pedal layout that makes driving easier and less tiring, forward visibility that makes it easier to spot hazards at intersections, and responsive and predicable handling in any driving situation.

In addition, the i-ACTIVSENSE range of advanced safety features takes a human-centered approach to helping the driver recognize hazards in many of the driving situations they encounter on a daily basis.

These technologies include auto-braking to prevent or mitigate collisions and adaptive headlights that enhance visibility at night by automatically adjusting the area and range of illumination—technologies proven to offer good preventative safety performance in the latest round of testing by IIHS.

The SKYACTIV-Body, part of the SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY range, is lightweight for fun driving, yet provides excellent collision safety performance, as IIHS test results show. In developing it, Mazda engineers returned to the first principles of body design and reviewed structures, materials and construction methods in pursuit of the ultimate vehicle body.