Way back in February, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crashed a Tesla Cybertruck and decided the truck did a satisfactory job protecting its occupants — at the cost of those stuck outside. Then, three months ago, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crashed one and found that it, too, fine, so long as you don’t mind being blinded by the headlights of an oncoming dumpster. Now, the truck has made its way back to IIHS for a third round of testing, and finally gotten the seal of approval: The Tesla Cybertruck is a-ok on safety. Mostly.
When NHTSA crashed the Cybertruck, its weak point was passenger safety. When IIHS crashed the truck, its weak point was blinding headlights. Now it seems Tesla has rectified those headlights, because the truck now has a Good rating on illumination from the latter group — enough to land it on this year’s shortlist for IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus recognition. It seems that lighting recall back in October did the trick, and won over the folks at IIHS.
A measurable difference
Looking back at an archived version of IIHS’s page for the Cybertruck from October, the data from the headlight test is markedly different from the data on today’s version. The difference appears to be that October recall, which updated the Cybertruck to run its lights at lower output after Tesla found that their brightness was in excess of legal limits. With that change, the worst part of the Cybertruck in IIHS’s eyes is now the duration of the “you’re not wearing your seatbelt” chime, by which the institute seems unimpressed.
Is the Tesla Cybertruck a good buy, now that it’s an IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus? No, no it is not. It’s still a gaudy, overpriced, under-engineered vehicle that’s quickly become a dogwhistle for the alt-right. The only reason I can understand for buying one of these now, in 2025, is that you get off on being degraded for your life choices. Still, though, there are cheaper ways to get your rocks off than that. I’ll give you my Venmo, if you really want, and charge 20 bucks less than a Cybertruck would cost you.
