7 Of The Safest Hyundai Models In 2026, According To The IIHS

If you're trying to decide on a car to buy, safety should be one of the primary factors informing your choice. It's important to consider aesthetics, performance, and ride quality, but the bitter truth about being on the road is that it can be a dangerous affair. You could drive like a model citizen and still be exposed to risks from other road users, be it from distractions, mechanical failure, or, worse. With this in mind, you're going to want to purchase a vehicle that gives you the best chance to evade and, in the absolute worst-case scenario, mitigate any potential crashes.

Thanks to technological advancements like safety assists in modern cars, we're seeing a welcome decline in fatalities. In fact, traffic deaths on American roads in 2025 were the lowest since 2019, which is encouraging for the future of driving. Hyundai is one of the car manufacturers participating in this turnaround, at least according to the IIHS. The body takes variables such as crashworthiness, seat belt quality, and crash avoidance into account for ranking on its index.

For the 2026 edition of its safety ratings, the IIHS has seven Hyundai models listed among the safest cars on the road. They don't all have the same safety badges, but we'll delve into what makes them safe for you to ride around.

The Hyundai Elantra earns the lesser Top Safety Pick badge from IIHS, but that's no knock on its ability to keep you and your passengers safe. Its metrics in the crashworthiness and crash avoidance segments are proof of this; it achieved the highest marks, the Good badge, in both areas. A 2021 SE was used to test the Elantra's ability to protect the driver and passenger in the small front overlap test. The Elantra aced both, although the marks dropped to Acceptable for the driver's leg area and the passenger's restraints.

For the moderate overlap and side tests, the IIHS used more modern Elantra models: the 2025 and 2024 SEL trims. That's presumably because Hyundai made some modifications to passenger safety mechanisms in the years following the 2021 redesign. The rear seat belts received a makeover with a pretensioner and load limiter in the 2025 version. We have a review of the 2025 Elantra, if that's on your radar. The idea was to avoid applying too much force to a rear passenger's chest in a collision.

In terms of headlights, all trims of the Hyundai Elantra come with high-beam assist, although the IIHS's independent testing found that visibility from the left headlamp is inadequate. For safety features, the 2026 Elantra offers automated emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, and blind-spot collision warnings as part of the Hyundai SmartSense safety suite –– although adaptive cruise control is limited to higher trims.

The midsize Hyundai model, the Sonata, gets the distinction of Top Safety Pick+ from the IIHS, where its smaller cousin missed out. That's presumably because the Sonata performs better in the seat belt metric -– it scores a Good for seatbelts, whereas the Elantra could only muster Acceptable. In the wake of its 2020 redesign, the Sonata SE aced both driver and passenger sides in the small overlap front test without dropping a single subcategory.

For the rear seats, the chest protection drops to Acceptable. Child seat anchors also earn Acceptable ratings. For the rear seats by the doors, the tether anchor is easy to find, but the lower ones are placed too deeply in the seat to be comfortably reached. If you don't mind that, though, the other boons, like headlight performance, are worth considering. On both straight roads and curves, the LED projector lamps illuminate both sides of the road satisfactorily, earning a Good score. In terms of safety features, the Sonata offers a safety suite across all trims that includes automatic high-beam assist, blind-spot monitoring, and rear-cross-traffic alert, among others. 

Heading into SUV territory, the Ioniq 5 is one of only two electric vehicles on IIHS' safety honors list for small SUVs -– and it has the higher designation of a Top Safety Pick+. Like the Sonata, the Ioniq 5 handles crashes well according to the body's qualifying metrics, even in the area of whiplash prevention; an area the Elantra and Sonata sedans weren't graded on. In simple terms, this test measures the effect of rear-end crashes at varying speeds.

If you drive a 2022 Ioniq 5, concerns in crash mechanics may be evident in the Acceptable rating of the car's structure and safety cage. The headlight performance leaves a bit to be desired as well. The IIHS tests show weaknesses on low and high beams on left and right curves, respectively, with a bit of glare to match. The intensity of the beams can be bothersome to other road users, and some drivers report not getting adequate lighting to help navigate corners. 

The Ioniq 5's safety features for preventing crashes are another story, though. The IIHS tested the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist in particular, and at varying speeds for cars, motorcycles, and pedestrians, the Ioniq 5 issued a timely warning in all cases. For Hyundai's Ioniq N-line, trim restrictions disappear. Buyers get the full complement of safety features. Wondering what the difference between the Ioniq 5 and the Ioniq 5 N is? We've got you covered. 

Like the Ioniq 5, Hyundai's crossover Kona earned the highest safety badge from the IIHS. It fares better than its EV sibling in terms of structural and safety-cage maintenance, and in crashworthiness tests for the driver and front passenger, although the rear passenger seat belts could do better at distributing tension away from the shoulder belt in a crash. In IIHS testing, that weakness caused the shoulder belt to move too far upward towards the dummy's neck, which could potentially result in injury.

The Kona was redesigned in 2024, so a 2024 Kona was used for the IIHS test. With this in mind, it's a bit disappointing that the model is still facing the same issues that drivers of the previous generation pointed out. The IIHS supports this, issuing an Acceptable rating for headlights, while online, some report headlights burning out repeatedly or having limited visibility.

The performance of the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist from the Ioniq 5 didn't taper off in the Kona, so you could be realistically confident in the 2026 Kona's ability to come to a dead stop or keep you out of merging when there's a vehicle in your blind spot. However, there's a bit of exclusivity in Hyundai's trim packaging; rear parking sensors and blind-spot view monitors are optional features.

The third small SUV from Hyundai's factory on the IIHS list, the Tucson, has a Top Safety Pick+ distinction. Like the other models in this article, crashworthiness ratings are good, but there's an oddity with the Tucson; the whiplash test received the lowest score on the IIHS metric system, Poor. Now, the whiplash metric is new -– the IIHS launched it as a revamp of the discontinued version earlier this year. According to Consumer Reports, only four of the 18 tested vehicles achieved a Good score, while the Tucson joins the Ford Bronco Sport and the Mazda CX-50 at the other end of the spectrum.

That's a cause for concern and could lead to injury in a crash. However, there are multiple positives that compensate for the deficiency. For starters, solid headlight performance is reflected in the fine print of the IIHS testing; no glare and good visibility on both straightaways and curves when using low beams. Older models of the Tucson, like the 2022, had drivers reporting road users flashing lights at them to match the glare, so that's a decent improvement.

The 2026 Tucson's Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist features pedestrian and cyclist detection, but note that drivers have reported the warnings are more abrupt and forceful. Logically, the less-than-timely warnings may contribute to the poor whiplash ratings. In terms of features, though, it's got all the standard outfits you'd expect.

The Ioniq 9 scores the highest marks across every subcategory for the driver, front, and rear passengers. A 2024 Kia EV9 was used for the testing, but the ratings apply to the 2026 Ioniq 9.

Visibility may have been a challenge for some of the Hyundai models on this list, but the Ioniq 9 doesn't suffer from that, at least according to the test scores; the IIHS test reported no glare and good visibility on straights and corners on both low and high beams. When you look at user reviews, though, you find a slightly different story. Some drivers have complained about visibility distance with low beams on, so it's logical to expect to use the high beams a lot.

In terms of collision avoidance, the FCA assist applies the brakes reliably, but you may experience hasty braking if you're trying to steer clear of motorcycles. Another thing you should note is that Hyundai recalled a number of models made between 2023 and 2026 earlier this month. 

The final Hyundai entry on the IIHS safety pick roll call, the Santa Fe, also has the Top Safety Pick+ rating. For instance, in the crashworthiness metric, while it has the highest rating possible and a clean slate in the driver's side, the front and rear passengers have some flaws in their armor. Passengers at the rear, for example, experience an Acceptance safety rating for head and neck.

The area where the Santa Fe is noticeably deficient in its safety package, however, is its headlights. We've highlighted headlights as a major issue for some of the models on this list, so it appears to be a Hyundai thing. IIHS testing may have given the Santa Fe an Acceptable rating in this metric, but online chatter about driver experience tells a different story. Some drivers report the brightness not being intense enough to see, and others point to the placement as the issue. Whatever the case may be, if you're not getting a good view of the road –– especially at night –– that's a threat to your safety.

The Santa Fe's strong points for safety are in the driver assists, particularly the adaptive stop-and-go cruise control. It almost operates like a true self-driving vehicle; you can set it to keep a certain distance from other cars, and the lane-keeping assist system reminds you to pay attention if your hands are off the steering for too long. If you're thinking of getting a Santa Fe, there are a few things you should know.