(NBC News) After putting dozens of new, 2017 cars through its battery of battering crash tests, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released comforting numbers and an encouraging message: Cars are safer across the board. (Click here for Top Safety Picks)
"You don't have to buy luxury to get safety, nearly every vehicle size and price class is represented," says IIHS President Adrian Lund.
Every major automobile manufacturer in the country is represented on the list. 82 vehicles in all received the Institute's top safety pick award.
Toyota led with nine of its models. Honda was also a strong performer, with five offerings declared among the safest for 2017.
Lund says this year they're rewarding carmakers for making automatic emergency braking systems standard instead of optional.
"Automatic emergency braking can keep you out of those front-to-rear crashes that are so easy to happen in commuter traffic," he notes.
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