2023 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Earns IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus Award

The 2022-23 Mercedes-Benz C-Class has earned a Top Safety Pick Plus award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, with the accolade being the latest achievement picked up by the luxurious four-door sedan.

Related: Here’s Every Car That Earned an IIHS Top Safety Award for 2022

Making the Grade

In order to earn both the Top Safety Pick Plus award and the lesser Top Safety Pick award, a vehicle must score good marks in six crash-test categories: driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength and head restraints. It must also earn an advanced or superior rating for its front crash prevention system in vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian crashes.

Adding Luster to Mercedes’ Safety Star

The C-Class managed to get the highest honor thanks to its LED headlights. A key requirement of the Plus award is that a vehicle must have headlights that rank good or acceptable standard across the entire lineup. The C-Class’ standard LED headlights got a good rating, while the curve-adaptive LED dynamic headlights that come with the Digital Light Package nabbed an acceptable rating.

The C-Class comes bundled with an arsenal of safety and driver assist features including the company’s Pre-Safe system, which uses sensors to monitor driving style and patterns. In the event of an impending crash, the system adjusts the head restraints, tightens the seatbelts, and closes the windows and moonroof. Other features include adaptive high beams, blind spot monitor and lane departure steering assist. Standard automatic emergency braking played a big role in testing, getting a superior rating in vehicle-to-vehicle testing and an advanced rating in vehicle-to-pedestrian testing. The optional automatic emergency braking with rear cross-traffic alert function earned a superior rating in both categories.

The sedan’s strong showing in testing helps weave a broader picture of success for the German luxury automaker. The bigger E-Class sedan also earned a Top Safety Pick Plus award, while the GLE SUV also gets the same award when equipped with optional front crash prevention technology.

More From Cars.com:

• 2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class: Upscale Tech, Upmarket Price
• 2023 Mercedes-AMG C43 Brings F1 Tech to the Masses (Who Can Afford a Mercedes)
• 2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class: Honey, I Shrunk the S-Class
• Self-Driving Cars Promise Safety, But Autonomy Alone Won’t Eliminate Crashes
• Research the Mercedes-Benz C-Class

Related Video:

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.