All cars built for U.S. sale must meet certain government-mandated safety standards that regulate everything from windshield defrosters to brake lights. Taking safety several steps further are the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a non-profit group that is supported by insurance companies. Each of these organizations performs different types of crash testing on new cars and trucks.

NHTSA performs full frontal crash tests, where vehicles are fitted with crash dummies and driven into a wall at 35 mph, and side impact tests, where a 3,015-pound sled is driven into the side of a parked test car at 38.5 mph. Scores for crash worthiness are awarded with one to five stars, with one star for a frontal crash suggesting at least a 46 percent chance of serious injury, while five stars suggests an injury risk of 10 percent or less. Ratings for the side impact test are slightly different: one star represents at least a twenty-six percent chance of injury and five stars represents a risk of five percent or less. NHTSA also provides rollover ratings, combining a calculation of the vehicle’s center of gravity and its track width with the vehicle’s performance in a quick maneuver driving test.

Instead of NHTSA’s full frontal test, IIHS performs offset frontal crashes. After being fitted with crash dummies, the test vehicle reaches 40 mph and strikes a deformable barrier. However, only the front driver’s side takes the hit, so all of the crash energy must be absorbed by a smaller area of the vehicle’s structure – the result is a tougher test. The IIHS ranks each vehicle from Poor to Good, with exceptional vehicles labeled a Best Pick.

To make our top ten list, a vehicle must have received at least four stars in all NHTSA categories (front driver, front passenger, front side, rear side, and rollover) and be labeled a Best Pick in the IIHS’s frontal-offset crash test. Since IIHS only offers side-impact ratings for a limited number of vehicles at this time, we did not include this parameter in our ranking criteria.

After researching all of the vehicles that matched our criteria, overall rankings were based on the total number of five-star ratings from NHTSA. However, it is important to understand that, in the case of a head-on collision with a Hummer, a heavier vehicle that scores three stars may provide more protection than a compact car scoring five stars. Curb weight matters, and we used it as the deciding factor in the event of a tie between vehicles that don’t share a common platform.

Finally, this list includes vehicles tested by NHTSA and IIHS. Other vehicles may be equally as safe, yet without verifiable crash test data, it would irresponsible to list them here.