2014 Honda Odyssey is the first minivan to ace the insurance industry crash tests

The 2014 Honda Odyssey is the first minivan to receive a Good rating in all five crash evaluations conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), earning it a coveted Top Safety Pick+ accolade.

The Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, and Toyota Sienna are all current Top Safety Picks. No other minivan has been put through the new small-overlap front crash test—a requirement for the plus designation.

The small-overlap crash test is designed to measure how well a car would protect its driver in a front-end collision into a fixed object, such as a tree or a pole. The test is particularly difficult for automakers to pass, because such crashes tend to miss the main frame rails of the car, in many cases tearing off the suspension and channeling the forces directly into the edge of the passenger compartment. Such crashes tend to skew the dashboard and steering wheel to the right, leaving many drivers unprotected by the air bag.

Anticipating this brutal 40-mph test, Honda made numerous updates to the Odyssey structure for 2014, including using high-strength steel in the front door frames, floor pan, and front wheel wells. The curtain air bags were extended forward to aid in both front and side crashes. And like with the new Acura MDX, the Odyssey was fitted with aluminum wheels that shatter on impact, preventing the wheel from pushing into the floor of the car in a crash.

As a result, the minivan protected the driver's space on impact, and the IIHS reports that there is a low risk of injury in a crash of this severity. The air bags provided adequate protection, shielding the dummy's head from hitting any hard objects.

The Odyssey joins the growing Top Safety Pick+ club, which also counts the Acura TL, Chrysler 200, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Dart, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord coupe and sedan, Honda Civic coupe and sedan, Hyundai Elantra sedan, Kia Optima, Lincoln MKZ, Mazda6, Mitsubishi Outlander, Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, Nissan Altima, Scion tC, Subaru Forester, Subaru Legacy, Volkswagen Passat, Volvo S60, and Volvo XC60 among its members.

We were on hand to witness the IIHS crash a perfectly good Honda minivan earlier this month. As that behind-the-scenes report reveals, safety is indeed improving over time.

Be sure to check crash test ratings, and dynamic safety test results, before buying your next car. (This information is readily available on our car model pages.)

Learn more about car safety in our Crash Test 101 story, and view previous IIHS crash test videos.

—Jeff Bartlett