Safest Cars of 2026

Safest Cars of 2026 — ranked

Ranked by our ForCar Safety Score — NHTSA five-star crash testing (60%) combined with owner-reported injury severity (25%) and recall frequency (15%). Every vehicle here already aces the government tests, so the score is what separates them — across this group it runs 79–99/100, and of 113 qualifying models we show the top 40.

How the share of five-star cars changed

Percentage of crash-tested models earning five stars overall, year by year. A ranking tells you which cars passed; this tells you whether passing still means anything:

Each point covers every model NHTSA rated that year (at least 20 per year). When four out of five vehicles pass, the star rating stops sorting the good from the great — which is why we blend in owner injuries and recalls.

Which brands show up most

Ford puts the most models on this particular list (9 of 113). That is not the same thing as the safest brand overall, which is measured as a share of everything a maker builds:

For the share-based view see the safest car brands.

Five stars, and still recalled

Of the 113 five-star 2026 cars here, 91 carry 15+ recall campaigns and the median sits at 64 per model, while 1 has none at all. A crash test measures one controlled impact; it says nothing about what the manufacturer had to fix afterwards. NHTSA publishes both records but never puts them side by side, which is how a 5-star Ford can also be the most-recalled vehicle on the page.

Recall counts cover a nameplate's whole production history, so long-running models accumulate more — which is part of why the median here is 64 while 1 of the 113 have none. Check the exact car with our VIN recall lookup before buying.

Other safety lists

How we score safety