 be regularly used to haul around groups of children. And now the verdict is out: if you want the safest new minivan, the 2019 Honda […] "'Pin It")
IIHS Shows 2019 Honda Odyssey is the Safest New Minivan
Safety should always be an important consideration when buying a new vehicle, but it tends to be even more important than usual when buying a new minivan, which will (presumably) be regularly used to haul around groups of children.
And now the verdict is out: if you want the safest new minivan, the 2019 Honda Odyssey is it. It was pitted against the Chrysler Pacifica and Toyota Sienna in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s latest round of passenger-side overlap front tests and easily came out the strongest.
The IIHS looked at three categories — overall, structure, and passenger restrains and kinematics — as well as the degree of injury to four areas of the body, including head and neck, chest, hip and thigh, and lower leg and foot.
No minivan topped the Odyssey in any of the categories, which received the highest possible score of “Good” in every one other than an “Acceptable” score for structure. The IIHS was especially critical of the Sienna’s safety cage and noted that the Pacifica also had issues with intrusion.
Related: 2019 Honda Odyssey features and trim overview
As a result, the Odyssey earned the IIHS’s coveted 2018 Top Safety Pick award. Though it doesn’t stop there: it was also the only minivan to earn the “Good+” designation for LATCH child restraint anchors and tethers.
“The Odyssey is a good example of the steady improvements we have seen in LATCH ratings in just three years,” said David Zuby, the Institute’s chief research officer.
“Honda factored in LATCH when redesigning the Odyssey for 2018, boosting the minivan’s rating from acceptable to good+ by making the second-row tether anchors easy to find and the lower anchors easy to maneuver around. In addition, the Odyssey model we tested has two good LATCH seating positions in the second row and two acceptable positions in the third row.”
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