The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has announced that the 2022-23 Mercedes-Benz C-Class has earned its highest award, Top Safety Pick+.
To earn the award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in six IIHS crash tests, including the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength and head restraint tests. The vehicle must also be available with a front crash prevention system that earns advanced or superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations. For the higher-tier Top Safety Pick+ award, the vehicle’s headlights must be rated as good or acceptable across all trims.
The C-Class received the good rating in all of the crash tests, but it’s interesting that its headlights had different scores. The standard static LED headlights earn a good rating, while the optional curve-adaptive headlights supplied with the Digital Light Package are rated lower, as acceptable.
The C-Class’s standard Active Brake Assist front crash prevention system earns a superior rating in the vehicle-to-vehicle evaluation and an advanced rating in the daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluation, while the optional Active Brake Assist with Cross-Traffic Function earns superior ratings in both tests.
