Used car safety, rank #154 of 188
Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD Safety Rating (2020-23)
Real IIHS driver death rates for the 2020-23 Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD, a large pickup, compared with its class and with the current model.
IIHS 2026 edition Β· 2021β2024 crashes. Results apply only to the model years and drivetrain shown. Read the new release and its limits Β· Browse the older edition. Prices and reliability from older model years have not been carried forward.
The 2020-23 Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD has an IIHS driver death rate of 61 per million registered vehicle years against a large pickups average of 29, which is 110% above the class average. That places it #154 of 188 used vehicles with a safety score of 24.3/100.
What the Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed death rate means
At 61 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years, the Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD is 110% worse than the large pickups average of 29. The 95% confidence interval is 24 to 97, which overlaps the class average, so some of the gap may be chance.
The other-driver death rate of 124 measures the opposite risk: how many drivers of other vehicles died in crashes with a Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed. Its 95% confidence interval is 66β181. It is higher than the Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed's own driver death rate, the usual pattern for heavier vehicles. Remember that death rates describe vehicles and their drivers together: IIHS adjusts for driver age and gender, but not for where or how carefully people drive. Our score weights this model's own rate at 70% and its class at 30%; see how we rank used cars.
Compared with similar used pickups
The safest large pickups in the IIHS study, by our score, with the Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD highlighted. It ranks 9 of the 9 shown; the class leader is the Toyota Tundra CrewMax 4WD at a death rate of 0.
| Vehicle | Years | Death rate | Score | Reliability | Used price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Tundra CrewMax 4WD | 2022-23 | 0 (0 to 27) | 84.2 | n/a | n/a |
| Ford F-150 SuperCrew 2WD | 2022-23 | 7 (0 to 21) | 79.3 | n/a | n/a |
| Ford F150 hybrid SuperCrew 4WD | 2022-23 | 13 (0 to 31) | 70.7 | n/a | n/a |
| GMC Sierra 1500 crew cab 4WD | 2023 | 18 (0 to 38) | 63.2 | n/a | n/a |
| Chevrolet Silverado 1500 crew cab 4WD | 2023 | 21 (4 to 39) | 61.0 | n/a | n/a |
| Ram 1500 Classic Quad 4WD | 2020-23 | 24 (3 to 45) | 55.8 | n/a | n/a |
| Ram 1500 crew cab long bed 4WD | 2020-23 | 25 (3 to 47) | 53.1 | n/a | n/a |
| Ram 1500 Quad 2WD | 2020-23 | 27 (0 to 54) | 49.8 | n/a | n/a |
| Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD (this page) | 2020-23 | 61 (24 to 97) | 24.3 | n/a | n/a |
Class average for large pickups: 29 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years.
The new Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed
Death rates lag the market by several years. For the current Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed we score IIHS crash tests instead; here is how the latest model years rate on our new-car scale.
| Model year | Model | IIHS award | New-car score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Ram 1500 | No award | 67.3 |
New-car scores use a different scale (crash tests, not death rates) and are not directly comparable with the 24.3 used-car score above.
Safety recalls for the Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD
We do not have a verified NHTSA recall lookup for this nameplate and model year. Check by VIN rather than treating that as a clean record.
Recall campaigns from the NHTSA recalls database, retrieved 2026-09-16. A campaign covers a range of build dates, not every car of the model year, and IIHS reports this nameplate across several years while these results are for one year. Confirm against the VIN. Recalls do not affect the death rate on this page.
Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD: Common Questions
Is the Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD a safe car?
Not on this measure: its drivers died at a higher rate than its class average. IIHS recorded a driver death rate of 61 per million registered vehicle years for the 2020-23 Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD, 110% above the class average (29 for large pickups). That earns a used-car safety score of 24.3 out of 100 and rank #154 of 188 used vehicles.
What is the Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD driver death rate?
61 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years, with a 95% confidence interval of 24 to 97. Drivers of other vehicles that collided with a Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed died at a rate of 124 per million. Source: IIHS driver death rates by make and model, covering 2020-23 models.
How does the Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD compare with other large pickups?
The large pickups class averages 29 driver deaths per million; the Ram 1500 Classic crew cab short bed 4WD sits at 61. Among the 9 large pickups compared above it ranks 9 by safety score; the top of that group is the Toyota Tundra CrewMax 4WD with a death rate of 0.