2021 Chevrolet Traverse earns safety award

The 2021 Chevrolet Traverse, a midsize SUV, earns a Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, after achieving a good rating in the passenger-side small overlap test.

Another midsize SUV from General Motors, the 2021 GMC Acadia, also earns a good rating in the passenger-side small overlap test as well as in the five other IIHS crashworthiness evaluations. However, the Acadia falls short of an award because the two available headlight systems earn marginal ratings.

The passenger-side test had not been performed on the 2020 versions of either SUV.

To qualify for Top Safety Pick, vehicles must earn good ratings in all six IIHS crashworthiness evaluations, including the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. They must also be available with a front crash prevention system that earns advanced or superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations as well as at least one headlight package that earns a good or acceptable rating. For the higher-tier Top Safety Pick+ award, good or acceptable headlights must be standard across trim levels.

The Traverse earns the award when equipped with the LED projector headlights that come with the Premier and High Country trims, which earn an acceptable rating. Other trims that include poor-rated HID projector headlights do not qualify for the award.

The two optional automatic emergency braking systems available on the Traverse both earn superior ratings in the vehicle-to-vehicle evaluation. In the vehicle-to-pedestrian test, the Automatic Emergency Braking with Front Pedestrian Braking system earns a superior rating, while the Enhanced Automatic Emergency Braking with Front Pedestrian Braking system earns an advanced rating.

The two optional front crash prevention systems available on the Acadia earn advanced and superior ratings in the vehicle-to-vehicle evaluation. The vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluation was not conducted with this vehicle.