The 2020 Jeep Renegade earns a TOP SAFETY PICK award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety following structural improvements to boost protection in small overlap frontal crashes. Models built after September 2019 equipped with specific headlights and optional front crash prevention qualify for the award.

To qualify for a 2019 TOP SAFETY PICK award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, as well as a good or acceptable rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test. It also needs an advanced or superior rating for vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention and a good or acceptable headlight rating.

The 2020 Renegade, a small SUV, earns an acceptable rating in the passenger-side small overlap crash test and good ratings in five other evaluations. The good rating in the driver-side small overlap crash test, however, only applies to models built after September, when modifications to the front-end structure were made to improve occupant protection.

The Renegade’s optional vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system earns a superior rating. In track tests, it avoided collisions in both 12 and 25 mph tests.

The SUV’s available LED headlights with high-beam assist — a system that automatically switches between high-beams and low beams depending on the presence of other vehicles — earn an acceptable rating. The same headlights without high-beam assist earn a marginal rating. The Renegade’s base halogen headlights earn a poor rating.