To be a top safety pick, a vehicles must garner a ‘good’ rating in each of the companies safety tests. The car goes through 40 mph head on collisions, side crash tests into each door, rollover tests to assess the strength of the roof, seat and head restraint assessment and bumper evaluations.
The 2013 Lexus GS earned itself the highest rating in each category, and joins two other Lexus vehicles which also earned the same honors, the Lexus RX SUV and the small Lexus CT 200h hybrid.
In 2010 the criteria for earning the award got tougher, and added the need for a ‘good’ rating in the roof strength tests. Each car that hopes to be a top safety pick must undergo the test which measures the strength of the roof by observing how much force it takes to end up with five inches of crush, compared to the weight of the car. The Lexus GS withstood a force equal to 5.47 times the vehicles weight. To earn a ‘good’ rating the vehicle must have a strength to weight ratio of at least 4 or better.