The 2021 Lincoln Nautilus, a midsize luxury SUV, earns a TOP SAFETY PICK award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, thanks to improved headlights.
To qualify for the award, vehicles must earn good ratings in all six IIHS crashworthiness evaluations, including the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. They must also be available with a front crash prevention system that earns advanced or superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations and at least one headlight package that earns a good or acceptable rating. To qualify for the higher-tier TOP SAFETY PICK+ award, good or acceptable headlights must be standard across trim levels.
The award applies to vehicles built after March 2021, when the manufacturer made adjustments to one of the available headlight systems to reduce glare. The LED projector headlights that come with the Black Label trim and also on the Reserve trim when it is equipped with the Ultimate package now earn a good rating. The other two available headlight systems earn poor ratings due to excessive glare.
The Nautilus is available with two different front crash prevention systems, one standard and one optional, but both earn superior and advanced ratings in the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations, respectively.
SOURCE: IIHS
