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2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid Is a Safe Choice for Eco-Friendly Families

20 cr v hybrid iihs jpg 2020 Honda CR-V | IIHS image

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety beefed up its award requirements for 2020, and Honda’s new hybrid SUV clears the bar — one of them, anyway. The 2020 Honda CR-V Hybrid is a Top Safety Pick, the agency’s second-highest designation. The hybrid model joins the gas-powered 2020 CR-V on the list; the compact SUV was revised for the new model year.

Related: Here’s Every Car That Earned a Top Safety Award for 2020

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The CR-V Hybrid earned good scores in all of the agency’s crash tests: the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, and head restraints and seats evaluations. Its standard front crash prevention system also earned a superior rating for vehicle-to-vehicle crash prevention and pedestrian front crash prevention. The latter is a new component of IIHS’ safety ratings system.

In headlights, however, the hybrid earned just an acceptable rating for its standard LED reflector headlights. IIHS said that on straightaway testing, visibility was good on both sides of the road.

“On curves, visibility was good on the sharp right curve, fair on the gradual right and sharp left curves, and inadequate on the gradual left curve,” the agency said in a statement.

Only non-Hybrid CR-V models in the Touring trim have good-rated headlights. The gas-powered LX, EX and EX-L trims have marginally rated headlights. To earn IIHS’ highest safety award for 2020 — Top Safety Pick Plus — a vehicle’s headlights must earn a good or acceptable rating and be standard across the lineup; often good-rated headlights are optional.

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News Editor

Hellbent on finding a journalism job after earning an English degree from DePaul University, I stumbled into the automotive industry in 2003 — much to the delight of my Corvette-obsessed dad. After working as an editor at Consumer Guide Automotive for several years, I joined Cars.com in 2011 and am currently an expert reviewer, certified car-seat technician and mom of three. I wear a lot of hats — many of them while driving a minivan. My first car was a 1994 Mercury Tracer, and I currently drive a 2012 Mazda5.

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