Ram 1500 Is Only Full-Size Pickup to Be Rated IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus

Ram 1500 Is Only Full-Size Pickup to Be Rated IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus
ram 1500 is only full-size pickup to be rated iihs top safety pick plus
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  • ram has revised the adaptive led headlights to meet performance requirements for the insurance institute for highway safety (iihs) top safety pick+ award.
  • the tsp+ rating applies only to later-build 2019 and all 2020 ram 1500 laramie longhorn and limited trucks.
  • other available headlights on the ram 1500 scored lower despite the vehicle's top ratings in all six crash tests.

    the 2019 ram 1500 earns the only insurance institute for highway safety (iihs) top safety pick+ rating for a full-size pickup, an enviable result. it bears noting that the ram was just as safe months before, when iihs smashed the truck six ways to sunday and gave it top marks. structurally, unlike the crash-test disparities between extended and crew-cab versions of the first redesigned ford f-150 models, all ram trims scored the top good ratings in all six crash tests. call it a technicality, but it's strictly the improved led headlights that helped the newer new ram 1500 stand alone among full-size pickups with the top safety pick+ award.

    when the iihs released results for 11 full-size models in march, the honda ridgeline won a top safety pick (without the "+") because its headlights performed better despite a poorer score in one of the actual crash tests. iihs criteria for the best rankings have become tougher now that the nonprofit insurance group links active-safety items such as headlights and forward emergency braking with passive-safety equipment such as airbags and the vehicle's body structure. while the latter undoubtedly saves you during an accident, active safety at least tries to save you from a crash altogether. since the iihs began insisting on brighter, more precise light beams that reach farther down the road while reducing glare (see the test here), not many automakers thought their headlights were as bad as the iihs claimed. but the ram team has adapted.

    only the two most expensive versions of the ram 1500 qualify for top safety pick+ status, and only then with the $1695 advanced safety group package that includes forward emergency braking. of the many headlight configurations that iihs has tested, the adaptive led lights with curve and high-beam assist are the only ram headlights to score the highest good rating. all others, including the led projectors without curve assist, led reflectors, and halogen lights, scored marginal. ram restricts these adaptive leds to the laramie longhorn and limited—its top two trim levels strictly built as crew cabs—which both start at more than $50,000.

    more asterisks: despite having what appear to be the same adaptive leds, only 2019 model--year trucks built in june or later have the improved lighting. going forward, it'll be easier to pick out them out, as all 2020 ram 1500 laramie longhorn and limited models will have these lights.

    again, this doesn't mean the ram 1500 is any more or less safe in an accident. a vehicle's physical body structure, combined with proper airbag deployment, is still the one and only buffer between your body and the obstacle ahead. better headlights do make a noticeable difference on a pitch-dark road, though, so there's that.

    source:caranddriver.com