2019 Ford Ranger performs remarkably well in IIHS crash tests

The 2019 Ford Ranger has officially been rated by the IIHS after going through its full battery of tests, and the results are favorable. If not for a “Marginal” headlight rating, the Ranger would be a Top Safety Pick. Pickup trucks rarely get such impressive scores in the IIHS tests. Not only are they impressive on their own, but the major category ratings are exactly the same as the 2019 Toyota Tacoma.

There is one midsize truck that got a slightly better rating than the Ranger, though, and that’s the Honda Ridgeline. It received the same overall crashworthiness ratings as the Ranger, but with one of its headlight options receiving a “Good” rating, it bests the Ranger and gets a Top Safety Pick rating to go along with it. Does that mean the Ridgeline crashes much better than the Ranger? Not exactly. The most we can say is that the headlights are better on the Honda. We can, however, say the Ranger bested the Chevrolet Colorado and Nissan Frontier in the IIHS crash tests. Unfortunately, the IIHS still hasn’t tested a Jeep Gladiator.

The IIHS rated the Ranger “Good” in every crash test except for the tricky passenger-side small overlap test. It received an “Acceptable" rating there, just like the Tacoma and Ridgeline. Ford’s front crash prevention system worked as intended in the IIHS test. It stopped the truck from 12 mph, avoiding a collision. Then it managed to reduce its speed by 24 mph from 25 mph in the similar, higher-speed test.

To read more about the Ranger, check out our midsize pickup comparison test, where we pitted it against the top dogs of the class on and off the road.