The all-new 2023 Honda Accord has earned the prestigious Top Safety Pick+ from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and it's a more significant achievement than you probably expect. How come?

Because the IIHS set new criteria this year that also include a new nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention test in addition to the standard battery of testing. In short, the IIHS has made it more difficult to achieve the TSP+, an award the previous generation Accord also earned. Therefore, the latest generation Accord is safer than ever. It earned the highest possible rating in six out of the seven categories.

But the key areas where the Accord improved the most are headlight ratings in every trim level and side impact protection. Basically, in order to receive a top rating this year a vehicle must earn "Good" ratings in every crash test such as the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, and the updated side testing.

The IIHS enhanced its side-impact testing for this year by using a heavier ramming vehicle in order to better simulate the bigger and heavier SUVs now on the road. It had to adapt to the times. The previous Accord earned only a "Marginal" rating, so it wouldn't be eligible for the award now.

As for the headlights, the latest Accord earned a "Good" rating in this category, whereas its predecessor received an "Acceptable" score. The remaining batch of test scores are just as good, if not better, as the last Accord. The nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian crash prevention systems earned an "Advanced" score and a "Superior" mark for daytime driving.

Every new Honda vehicle, including the Accord, now comes standard with the Honda Sensing Suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies. Some of these systems are a collision mitigation braking system with pedestrian detection, forward collision warning, lane-keep assist, and adaptive cruise control.

Two also new for 2023 Honda also received a TSP+, the redesigned CR-V and HR-V. All told, six Hondas in the current lineup have earned a TSP+. Joining the Accord, CR-V, and HR-V are the Civic Hatchback and sedan, and Odyssey minivan. We should point out that the Civic Type R hot hatchback is excluded. The next Honda up for IIHS crash testing is the all-new Pilot and, not surprisingly, Honda is aiming for the top score once again.

The Honda Accord continues to be one of the best and safest mid-size family sedans on the market. Its biggest rival, which also earned a TSP+, is - you guessed it - the Toyota Camry.