2021 Mercedes-Benz C-Class earns top accolade with optional equipment

The 2021 Mercedes-Benz C-Class, a midsize luxury car, earns a Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety when equipped with an optional front crash prevention system.

To qualify for the higher of the Institute’s two awards, 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, and good or acceptable headlights must be standard across trim levels. Vehicles with at least one good or acceptable headlight package qualify for the lower-tier Top Safety Pick award.

The award applies to C-Class vehicles built after January 2021, when Mercedes-Benz made adjustments to one of the headlight packages. Now all available headlights earn either a good or acceptable rating.

The C-Class earns the award when equipped with the optional Active Brake Assist with Cross-Traffic Function front crash prevention system, which earns superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations. The standard front crash prevention system falls short due to a basic rating in the vehicle-to-pedestrian test.