Honda Becomes the First Automaker to Earn FIA's 5-Star Safety RatingAutoblogJacob OlivaWed, September 9, 2026 at 1:45 PM UTCAdd us on GoogleAutoblog and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.Company Safety RatingCrash tests and safety ratings have been the standard for figuring out if a car will keep you in one piece. Depending on your ZIP code, that might mean checking out IIHS, Euro NCAP, or ASEAN NCAP before you even think about signing on the dotted line.But there's a different kind of safety rating, which doesn't care about your car's crumple zones. The FIA Road Safety Index – yes, the organization that oversees motorsports worldwide, such as Formula One – is all about how companies handle road safety as a whole. It kicked off in 2022 with a three-star max, but for 2026, the FIA cranked things up to five stars and made the rules a whole lot tougher.AdvertisementAdvertisementHonda just became the first to hit that new five-star mark, snagging the top rating in the products and services category. And because Honda loves a bit of drama, they picked up the award right next to the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.HondaWhy Honda Was the First to Get Five StarsHonda didn't just stumble into this; it was already the first automaker to grab the Road Safety Index's top score in February last year – a three-star rating for their operations in Japan.To play in the big leagues under the new rules, Honda had to go bigger. They put 17 countries on the table– covering over 90% of their global motorcycle and car sales – for the FIA to pick apart.So what made Honda stand out? The FIA pointed to a few big wins: long-term safety planning with the bosses actually paying attention, tracking crashes and injuries involving Honda vehicles worldwide, keeping tabs on safety goals with a dedicated global safety council, rolling out more advanced safety tech, and being more open about traffic safety data.AdvertisementAdvertisementAll of this is part of Honda's big-picture 'Safety for Everyone' plan. The goal? Slash traffic deaths involving Honda cars and bikes by half by 2030 (compared to 2020), and then go for the holy grail: zero fatalities by 2050.HondaFIA's Road Safety Index (Briefly) ExplainedThe FIA Road Safety Index isn't about how safe one car is in a crash. It's about how a whole company tackles road safety across everything it does. Basically, if your company wants to prove that you're a road safety advocate, getting top scores would be your goal.There are two scores in the Index. First, the Supply Chain Rating checks safety from the factory floor to delivery trucks. Second, the Products and Services Rating assesses how safe the products and services a company sells are. Honda's five-star win came from this second category.The FIA says the expanded five-star framework goes beyond the original three-star model by adding new assessment areas covering planning, safety performance monitoring, and safety culture management alongside product or supply chain coverage. The goal is to encourage organizations to make road safety a measurable part of their operations rather than treating it as a standalone initiative.FIAThis story was originally published by Autoblog on Sep 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.