5 Minivans Draw IIHS 'Top Safety Pick' Award
ARLINGTON, VA — Five minivan models have earned the 2011 Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The 2012 Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan and Volkswagen Routan — which all share a common structure — join the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna in the Top Safety Pick ranks following new evaluations for rollover protection.
ARLINGTON, VA — Five minivan models have earned the 2011 Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The 2012 Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan and Volkswagen Routan — which all share a common structure — join the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna in the Top Safety Pick ranks following new evaluations for rollover protection.
"To qualify for the designation, vehicles must have the highest rating of "good” for frontal, side, rollover and rear crash protection and must have electronic stability control (ESC).
IIHS said the winners stood out from competitors because of superior protection in rollover crashes.
Rollover protection depends on roof strength, which is measured by pushing a metal plate against one corner of a vehicle's roof at a constant speed. To earn a "good" rating, the roof must withstand a force equal to four times the vehicle's weight before it caves in 5 inches. Put another way, it must have a strength-to-weight ratio of at least four.
For more details about the minivan test results, click here.
More Safety

Ram Recalls More Than 1.27 Million 1500 Pickups for Seat Belt Anchor Issue
The recall affects certain 2019-2026 Ram 1500 pickups that may have improperly attached second-row seat belt buckle anchors.
Read More →
Top 50 Executive Fleets
It is that time of year again! Time for the 2026 list of the Top 50 Executive Fleets, presented by Automotive Fleet and Volvo as part of its annual Fleet 500. Download now to see this year's list of companies!
Read More →How Better Visibility Cut Speeding Violations by 48%
Fleet leaders don't need more data, they need clearer visibility into what the data is saying. This case study explores how one utility replaced speeding-event counts with a single metric — miles driven in violation — to strengthen safety and significantly reduce speeding violations.
Read More →
Operation Safe Driver Week: Why the Industry's Oldest Safety Campaign Still Matters to Fleets
A look at how a 2007 enforcement initiative became one of the most consequential weeks on the fleet safety calendar, and what it means for your drivers in 2026.
Read More →
Nexar-Nauto Merger Aims to Give Fleets Better Safety Intelligence Through Larger Driving Dataset
Stefan Heck tells Automotive Fleet that combining more than 10 billion miles of driving history with Nexar's AI models will give fleets deeper insights into driver risk and roadway conditions than either company could provide independently.
Read More →From Silos to Solutions: Relationship Management for Safer Fleets
From telematics adoption and driver accountability to policy consistency and risk mitigation, this episode breaks down what it really takes to build a safer fleet culture without slowing business down.
Read More →
IIHS Launches First Commercial Vehicle Safety Evaluations
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has begun evaluating heavy-duty pickups and cargo vans for driver protection. Which models earned top marks?
Read More →
Reducing Risk by Eliminating Phone Use Behind the Wheel
Hosted with the cofounder of Lifesaver Mobile, this episode addresses phone use behind the wheel and how to design a driving environment that actually helps prevents accidents.
Read More →
Cameras, Safety and Insurance: From Reactive Claims to Real-Time Prevention (Part 2 of 2)
Part Two: Commercial auto remains one of the most challenging and costly lines of coverage for fleet operators and insurers alike. Continue learning more about how to effectively address these issues from Onur Aksan, Enterprise Business Development Executive, Geotab
Read More →
How 5-Second Telematics Data Is Changing Fleet Safety
This episode connects with Steve Santostasi of Ford Pro and covers how a few seconds of data can make a difference in fleet safety.
Read More →