Is the 2026 Chevrolet Trax a safe car?

The 2026 Chevrolet Trax scores 63.7/100 in our published formula and ranks #25 of 29 current small SUVs with complete IIHS records. It does not hold a current IIHS award.

Is the 2026 Chevrolet Trax an IIHS Top Safety Pick?

No. The 2026 Chevrolet Trax does not hold an IIHS Top Safety Pick award for the 2026 model year, which can reflect a result below Good in a qualifying test or tests that IIHS has not yet completed.

How does the 2026 Chevrolet Trax compare with other small SUVs?

The class leader is the 2026 Mazda CX 5 at 95.6/100. The comparison table on this page lists the closest-scoring current small SUVs with complete records.

2026 Chevrolet Trax Safety Rating

Name: 2026 Chevrolet Trax
Brand: Chevrolet

Small SUVs · Current IIHS listing · IIHS data updated 2026-09-04

Complete evidence record

The 2026 Chevrolet Trax scores 63.7/100, ranking #25 of 29 current small SUVs and #128 of 137 vehicles overall with complete IIHS records. It does not hold a current IIHS award.

Results below Good: Moderate overlap front (updated test) rated Poor, Headlights rated Marginal. Rear-passenger restraints in the updated moderate-overlap test: Good; rear-passenger head protection: Good.

63.7

Safety score / 100

Complete record

No award

IIHS award

No current award

#25

of 29 small SUVs

See the class ranking

Not rated

NHTSA overall

Reference only, not scored

$21,700

Starting MSRP

Approximate base trim

42

Class driver death rate

per million vehicle-years; all vehicles 38

IIHS crash-test results

Front Crash Prevention: PedestrianPoor

Front Crash Prevention: Vehicle-to-VehicleMarginal

Small Overlap Front Good

Moderate Overlap Front: Updated Test Poor

Side: Updated Test Good

Headlights Marginal

Seat Belt Reminders Acceptable

Latch Ease Of Use Acceptable

Detailed results by test (54 entries)

IIHS publishes these under the test they belong to, so the same label can appear more than once. Rear restraints and kinematics, rear head protection, structure and safety cage, and front restraints are the four that count toward the score (25%).

Small overlap front

Overall driver-side evaluation Good

Structure and safety cage Good

Driver injury measures

Head/neck Good

Chest Good

Hip/thigh Good

Lower leg/foot Good

Driver restraints and dummy kinematics Good

Overall passenger-side evaluation Good

Structure and safety cage Good

Passenger injury measures

Head/neck Good

Chest Good

Hip/thigh Good

Lower leg/foot Good

Passenger restraints and dummy kinematics Good

Driver injury measures

Head/neck Good

Chest Good

Hip/thigh Good

Lower leg/foot Good

Driver restraints and dummy kinematics Good

Moderate overlap front: updated test

Overall evaluation Poor

Structure and safety cage Good

Driver injury measures

Head/neck Good

Chest Good

Thigh/hip Good

Leg/foot Good

Driver restraints and dummy kinematics Good

Rear passenger injury measures

Head/neck Poor

Chest Marginal

Thigh Good

Rear passenger restraints and dummy kinematics Good

Side: updated test

Overall evaluation Good

Structure and safety cage Acceptable

Driver injury measures

Head/neck Good

Torso Good

Pelvis Acceptable

Driver head protection Good

Rear passenger injury measures

Head/neck Good

Torso Good

Pelvis Good

Rear passenger head protection Good

Headlights

Overall rating Marginal

Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:

Overall ratingApplies to 2024-26 models Marginal

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle 2.0

Overall evaluation Poor

Front crash prevention: pedestrian

Overall evaluation Marginal

Seat belt reminders

Overall evaluation Acceptable

Child seat anchors

Overall evaluation Acceptable

View the IIHS report

Opens on iihs.org in a new tab

How the score is built

Primary IIHS tests (55%)

62.5

4/4 reported · small overlap, updated moderate overlap, updated side, headlights

Occupant-protection details (25%)

95.0

4/4 reported · rear restraints, rear head, safety cage, front restraints

Pedestrian front crash prevention (10%)

0.0

IIHS pedestrian AEB result: Poor · vehicle-to-vehicle: Marginal (shown, not scored)

Class context (10%)

55.8

Damped class-level driver death-rate term; award status is shown above but carries no weight

Rear-seat-priority score

67.4

Alternate published view: rear restraints weighted 20%

Injury-measure average (tiebreak only)

91.88

Mean of 40 published injury measures across the three crash tests. Orders vehicles with equal scores; carries no weight in the score.

Full formula, weights, and missing-data rules →

NHTSA 5-star rating

2026 CHEVROLET TRAX SUV N/A FWD

OverallNot rated

Frontal crash★★★★☆

Side crashNot rated

Rollover★★★★☆ 15.5% risk

NHTSA stars are shown for reference and carry no weight in the score. NHTSA source. Why the two programs disagree →

Real-world context

Measure	Result	What it covers
Class driver death rate	42 per million registered vehicle-years	Small SUVs as a class, adjusted for driver age and sex (Farmer, 2023); all vehicles average 38. Class context only.
Chevrolet Trax 4WD (2017-20) driver death rate	59 (95% CI 26–91)	Earlier model years of this nameplate; class average for that study 42.6. Reflects who bought and drove those cars as well as the car.
Chevrolet Trax 2WD (2017-20) driver death rate	89 (95% CI 57–121)	Earlier model years of this nameplate; class average for that study 42.6. Reflects who bought and drove those cars as well as the car.

Compared with other small SUVs

Closest-scoring current small SUVs with complete IIHS records, plus the class leader. See every small SUVs ranked →

Vehicle	Class rank	IIHS award	Rear restraints	Starts at	Score
2026 Mazda CX 5	#1 of 29	TSP+	Good	$29,990	95.6
2026 Buick Envista	#25 of 29	—	Good	$26,495	63.7
2026 Chevrolet Trax (this page)	#25 of 29	—	Good	$21,700	63.7
2026 Kia Seltos	#27 of 29	—	Acceptable	$23,790	61.5
2026 Volkswagen Taos	#28 of 29	—	Acceptable	$26,500	61.2

Our analysis

The 2026 Chevrolet Trax belongs to the Small SUVs class. This class has a driver death rate near the national average of 38 deaths per million registered vehicle-years. The class figure is adjusted for driver age and sex, which removes a large part of the selection effect in raw death rates. It is still a class average, not a measurement of this model.

The Chevrolet Trax has no IIHS Top Safety Pick award for 2026. That can mean a result below the award threshold in one test, or tests IIHS has not completed. Absence of an award is not evidence that the vehicle is unsafe.

Across the 6 IIHS rating categories reported, the Chevrolet Trax earned 2 Good ratings. Results below Good deserve attention, especially the updated frontal and side tests that IIHS toughened in 2022 and 2023. Our updated crash test analysis explains what changed.

This analysis is produced independently; we have no affiliation with Chevrolet or any manufacturer. Read the full methodology or learn more about us.

Safety recalls for the 2026 Chevrolet Trax

No recalls on record. NHTSA lists this model year and currently shows no recall campaigns against it.

Check your VIN at NHTSA

Use this score on your own site

Writing about the 2026 Chevrolet Trax? Paste this badge into a post or forum reply. It updates on its own whenever IIHS publishes new results for this model.

Embed code

<a href="https://www.informedforlife.com/cars/chevrolet_trax-4-door-suv_2026"><img src="https://www.informedforlife.com/badges/chevrolet_trax-4-door-suv_2026.svg" width="260" height="96" alt="2026 Chevrolet Trax safety score 63.7/100 on Informed for Life"></a>

Free to use with the link left intact. The badge is a plain image and an ordinary link, with no tracking script.

Questions about the 2026 Chevrolet Trax

Continue comparing

Every Chevrolet model rated (this one is #4 of 5)Chevrolet Every small SUVs rankedSmall SUVs The full 2026 safety rankingAll vehicles

Shopping for a family? Compare three-row vehicles and rear-seat evidence. Buying used? See real driver death rates by model.