2020 Toyota Tacoma earns Top Safety Pick rating with better headlights

The 2020 Toyota Tacoma has just earned itself a rarefied commendation. It’s now only the third pickup truck to get the IIHS Top Safety Pick rating. And like so many recent Top Safety Pick recipients, the award comes following headlight improvements.

When the IIHS tested the 2019 Tacoma, it only got the second lowest “Marginal” rating for its headlights. The new 2020 model has LED headlights on the TRD Pro and TRD Limited trims with the highest “Good” rating, qualifying it for the Top Safety Pick award. These lights are available as options on the TRD Off-Road and TRD Sport trims, but not available on the SR and SR5 trims. On those trucks, the headlights are still rated “Marginal.”

Holding the Tacoma back from the ultimate Top Safety Pick+ award is its passenger-side small-overlap crash results. In that crash test, it only got the second-highest “Acceptable” rating. Every other crash test yielded a “Good” rating. The Tacoma also boasts a standard automatic emergency braking system that will stop the truck from colliding with another vehicle at speeds up to 25 mph.

As we mentioned, only two other trucks have earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick award or better. Those include the Honda Ridgeline with a Top Safety Pick and the Ram 1500 with the Top Safety Pick +. In the Tacoma’s class, the Ford Ranger comes close with similar crash test ratings and forward collision prevention tech, but its headlights aren’t good enough. The Chevy Colorado has a worse passenger small-offset crash rating, worse headlights and worse forward collision prevention tech than both. The Nissan Frontier has worse passenger and driver small-offset crash results than the Toyota and Ford, as well as worse seat and head restraint design and no forward collision prevention tech. The Jeep Gladiator has yet to be tested.