A small SUV just rolled away with big safety recognition. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has bestowed its highest safety accolade — a Top Safety Pick+ award — on the 2022 Subaru Forester.

The Forester underwent a series of six challenging crashworthiness evaluations and aced every one. These included the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength, and head restraint tests. 

But to capture the coveted award, IIHS engineers demand that vehicles 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. The Forester did not disappoint. Its standard front crash prevention system earns superior ratings in both tests.

Finally, to garner “plus” status good or acceptable headlights must be standard across all trims. On this criterion, many vehicles fall short. But the Forester measured up. All trims of the small SUV are equipped with good-rated, curve-adaptive LED projector headlights, giving the Forester the final factor it needed to snag a Top Safety Pick+ award.