48 Cars Earn 2016 Top Safety Award

If you're driving a new car, you will want to know this. 

Four dozen cars earned top marks for safety for 2016 from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The vehicles had to meet tougher safety requirements and had to have a new crash prevention feature to qualify for the institute's highest award.

In all, 48 cars earned the top safety award.

Cars had to perform better on the "small overlap" test, which simulates what happens when the front corner of the car collides with another vehicle or tree.

When it comes to safety, Toyota is on top. The Camry is one of nine models from the automaker that earned top safety pick plus, the institute's highest safety rating.

The redesigned 2016 Nissan Maxima, and Volkswagen Passat performed well.

Ford's F-150 Supercrew is among the 13 vehicles that earned the second highest safety level.

The institute says drivers should ask for auto brake and forward collision warning features.