2022 Honda Civic sedan and hatch earn Top Safety Pick+ honors

The redesigned 2022 Honda Civic compact sedan and hatchback earned the highest safety ranking from the IIHS, the insurance-industry funded announced on Thursday. Its Top Safety Pick+ award is not just the top honor awarded by the agency, it is also considered to be the most rigorous safety acknowledgement in the industry. 

Both the four-door and five-door Civics earned the highest “Good” rating in all six crash tests, and its standard automatic emergency braking system earned top “Superior” ratings. The IIHS found that in tests at both 12 mph and 25 mph, the AEB system avoided collisions with vehicles, and adult and child pedestrian dummies crossing the street in front of the car. That’s impressive for a car that costs less than $23,000. 

To qualify for the + part of the TSP, the redesigned Civic also had to earn at least “Acceptable” ratings for its headlights. The 2022 Civic’s standard LED reflector lights earned “Good” marks for forward and side visibility, though the IIHS noted the headlights created some glare to oncoming vehicles. The 2021 Civic missed out on the “+” part of the TSP for its “Poor” standard headlights. 

Another noteworthy point in IIHS testing was the “Good+” mark for the LATCH child safety seat system. With LATCH anchors to secure three child safety seats in back, the Civic was commended for its easy-to-find location and that it didn’t require too much hunting to find the anchor between the seats and nor did it take too much force to hook up the safety seats to the anchors. 

The 2022 Honda Civic joins more than 70 other 2021-2022 models earning a 2021 TSP+ award from the IIHS. Competitive TSP+ winners include the 2021 Mazda 3 sedan and hatchback, and the 2021 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid. 

The NHTSA has yet to crash test the 2022 Civic.