Finding just the right car for a teenager just got a bit easier with a recommendation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and Consumer Reports (CR). The two independent testing and rating organizations are jointly recommending the 2026 Honda Passport as a great new vehicle for a teen driver and many Honda Civic and Accord models as excellent used Honda choices – including hybrids!
IIHS, an independent arm of the insurance industry that evaluates vehicle safety and crash worthiness, and Consumer Reports, the respected consumer testing organization, put out an annual list of good teen driving options. CR weighed emergency and routine handling as well as usability. It nixes models that have confusing and distracting controls and displays.
The 2026 Honda Passport earned the IIHS’s top safety designation, the TOP SAFETY PICK+, as well as CR’s “Best” safety evaluation. The Passport was designed with Honda’s Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE) body structure, offering protection in many front collisions.
The 2026 Passport is equipped with the Honda Sensing® suite of safety and driver-assistive technologies, especially helpful for new teen drivers who may be easily distracted. Distracted driving is a factor in almost half of traffic fatalities and a third of fatalities involving drivers under age 25.
Honda Sensing includes:
- Collision Mitigation Braking System™ (CMBS™) with Pedestrian Detection
- Forward Collision Warning
- Road Departure Mitigation (RDM) incorporating Lane Departure Warning (LDW)
- Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS)
- Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)
Honda Sensing was introduced in 2014 and by 2022 was standard on most Hondas.
Parents are balancing safety with expense, which is why Used and Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) Hondas are such good options. Civic coupes and sedans from 2014-2025 often cost less than $10k, while Honda Accord sedans from 2013-2025 often cost less than $20k. Honda Sensing was introduced in 2014 and by 2022 was standard on most Hondas. The 2014-2025 Honda Civic and 2013-2025 Accords all benefit from ACE body structure.
“Safety for Everyone” is Honda’s commitment to put safety at the forefront of its product development. Additionally, Honda is targeting young drivers with its Honda Safety Driven education initiative. Technological advances, safety awareness efforts to influence driver behavior and working with public and private entities to improve traffic safety are the three prongs of that commitment.
Schomp Honda actively supports Honda’s “Safety for Everyone” initiative. We invite parents and teenagers to come in and see how we can help keep those young drivers as safe as possible.