A mid-size luxury car, the 2022 Lexus ES recently rolled away with the highest safety honor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety can give any vehicle — its coveted Top Safety Pick+ award.

Earning “plus” status is no easy feat. First, IIHS engineers put vehicles through a series of challenging crashworthiness evaluations. The Lexus ES performed well—earning good ratings across the board. The evaluations included the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength and head restraint tests.

But contenders for Top Safety Pick+ 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.

Here again, the ES measured up. The luxury car features a standard front crash prevention system that scored a superior rating in the vehicle-to-vehicle evaluation and an advanced rating in the vehicle-to-pedestrian test.

Headlights—one of the most basic safety features— are the final element that separates vehicles that only earn a second-tier award versus “plus” status. To capture a “plus” award vehicles must offer good or acceptable headlights as standard across all trims.

The ES offers two available headlight systems, which were redesigned for the 2022 model year, and both earn good ratings—lighting the way to a Top Safety Pick+ award for the new Lexus.