What to know

NHTSA released its first New Car Assessment Program pedestrian protection results for model-year 2027 vehicles in September. The agency said 102 models from ten manufacturers met the criteria.

The assessments consider head and leg injury risks in impacts with a vehicle’s front end. Results appear separately on the safety-rating pages; a missing or pending result should not be treated as a passing score.

For shoppers, this adds a useful question to the safety checklist: how does the vehicle protect people outside it? Read the pedestrian assessment, occupant crash ratings, and crash-avoidance information as distinct pieces of evidence. No single label describes every aspect of safety, and a result for one model does not automatically apply to another.

Original analysis and practical guidance based on the linked sources. Lead source published September 18, 2026; checked October 13, 2026.