If you’re going to choose between a 2019 Honda Insight or Toyota Prius, you might want to read the safety reports on both.
If IIHS ratings were a final exam at school, the 2019 Honda Insight just earned straight A’s in its exhaustive battery of crash tests. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety earlier yesterday (Aug. 23, 2018) the 2019 Honda Insight passed every single crash and safety test they could throw its way including the two most recent additions to the already brutal test, the small frontal overall crash test, and headlight effectiveness test.
The 2019 Honda Insight earned a perfect score in both crashworthiness and crash avoidance and mitigation thanks to Honda’s Advanced Compatibility Engineering or ACE, obviously standard on all Honda vehicles. A crucial part of the ACE structure is its computer simulation which literally recreates the crash tests they’ll go through during the most safety tests, therefore, increasing passenger safety and their likelihood of passing these crash tests with flying colors.
And with Honda Sensing, Honda’s suite of active safety controls that includes lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, road departure mitigation system, and collision mitigation system, standard on all Honda vehicles moving forward, the Insight aced its Front Crash Prevention test.
Its main competition, the Toyota Prius, earned an Average Rating on the Small overlap front test on the passenger side. According to IIHS,
The dummy’s head barely contacted the frontal airbag before sliding off the right side, allowing the head to move far enough forward to hit the dashboard. The side curtain airbag deployed and has sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects. The side torso airbag also deployed.
This is a worrying test result for the Toyota Prius given the Prius’s multi-purpose use as a family car.
In contrast, the IIHS only had a straightforward yet praiseworthy report for the same test on the 2019 Honda Insight.
The dummy’s movement was well controlled. The dummy’s head loaded the frontal airbag, which stayed in front of the dummy until rebound. The side curtain airbag deployed and has sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects. The side torso airbag also deployed.
With a slightly cheaper starting price and now, industry-leading safety, when choosing between Honda Insight and Toyota Prius, the choice should be obvious.
Not to mention the Insight’s “fly under the radar” styling, stellar MPG ratings of 55 city/ 49 highway/ 52 combined, and Honda’s proven reliability track record, it would behoove you to choose Insight over Prius.
