The 2011 Ford F-150 SuperCrew has been crowned a Top Safety Pick from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Do you realize how stoked we are about that? It means Ford now has 11 vehicles on the road in the U.S. with an IIHS Top Safety Pick rating: 2011 models of the Explorer, Edge, Fusion, Fiesta (for those built after July 2010), Flex and Taurus as well as the Lincoln MKS, MKT, MKX (built after February 2011) and MKZ. Pardon us while we gloat for a moment.

To earn a Top Safety Pick ranking from the IIHS, there are a few requirements. A vehicle must offer electronic stability control. (Done.) It must also have a rating of “good” in offset frontal-, side- and rear-impact crash tests and roof-strength evaluations. (Done, done, done and done.) The F-150 ranking is applicable for those built after February 2011.

To boot, new safety features for the F-150 include a seat-integrated shoulder belt for the front middle seat and a head restraint for the second-row middle seat.

“Safety ratings are important markers customers can use to evaluate vehicles, so we are proud Ford has the most top U.S. safety ratings of any automaker ever,” said Sue Cischke, Ford Group Vice President of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “The F-150’s innovative safety technologies and this new Top Safety Pick award further demonstrate Ford’s commitment to safety.”

Standard safety features on the 2011 F-150 include an advanced safety structure with high-strength steel, six airbags, AdvanceTrac® with RSC® (Roll Stability Control™), four-wheel ABS brakes, SOS Post Crash Alert System?™, MyKey® and trailer sway control.

By reading this article, you’ve learned this is a vehicle being lauded for its safety technology, but we didn’t put all our eggs in that basket. The F-150 has many other attributes contributing to the reason it has remained the best-selling truck in America for the 34th year in a row (and while we’re bragging, we’ll also throw in best-selling vehicle – car or truck – for the 29th consecutive year). Among them? The very-in-demand fuel-efficient 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine, which continues to be a big hit with consumers.

Advanced technology and safety in a truck that gets the job done – just what you’ve come to expect from the F-Series family of pickups.